


Orion

by softmaknae



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Blood and Violence, Implied/Referenced Torture, Other, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Psychological Torture, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-11-04 01:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 21,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17889350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softmaknae/pseuds/softmaknae
Summary: Orion. The neon sign of the pub glistened in the darnkess of night, emitting a somewhat welcoming light across the abandoned street. Though it was located in a barren part of town, it was rarely completely empty. One day, a customer arrives, and weird things begin to happen.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’m gonna go ahead and say this:
> 
> This wasn’t written in a chapter format so I’ll be fixing it up to fit a chapter format.
> 
> Most of this is prewritten but there still may be some typos. Bear with me there, okay?
> 
> Also, this might be a little shorter than my last story. Mainly because I didn’t have a lot to fill up the plot with, as it was a rough idea and I’ve just kind of gone along with it.
> 
> HEY:  
> YOU SHOULD STREAM ALLIGATOR  
> THX
> 
> enjoy the first chapter :)

Orion. The neon sign of the pub glistened in the darnkess of night, emitting a somewhat welcoming light across the abandoned street. Though it was located in a barren part of town, it was rarely completely empty. Never once did Ki ever see no cars in its lot.

 

It was around 1 in the morning, and the buzz around the place seemed to die down. Observing from afar, he realized that if he was going to try and get a shot of alcohol (which he craved for), now was the time. When there’s little foot traffic if any at all, and there’s no way his “friends” would come visit him here. He could finally have a night to himself.

 

So he threw himself at the front door, stumbling in as if he were a leaf that had blown into a building.

 

Now that he was inside, he noticed that the bar was so much bigger than it looks from the outside. Practically no one was left as the morning tumbled by. There were only a few stragglers; a older man sporting an old cowboy hat, one tuned into the buzzing tv in the corner, and a lady who was at the far end of the bar, being served by the bartender.

 

The bartender however soon saw that he had another customer joining him, and smiled.

 

He wasn’t sure if this was a good sign or a bad one. Although the smile felt genuine, and he had never seen something like this man before, he was still wary.

 

Slowly, he creeped to the bar counter, sliding onto a stool far away from the woman.

 

Immediately, the man appeared, glass in hand, giving him a good grin. “Welcome to Orion. Can I help you?”

 

His voice seemed deeper than what he looked like, but then again, he was extremely muscular. Maybe this meant he was someone who also acted like a bouncer and kicked people out?

 

God, Ki wished he wouldn’t ever have to experience that from this guy.

 

He ordered an ice cold beer, and the man nodded. “Would you like it in the bottle?”

 

“Y-Yes, please.” Ki responded, his voice breaking.

 

This whole time, Ki was thinking of what he was going to do next. His friends were probably a bad idea, since they were all somewhat involved in his case. He couldn’t trust them to keep quiet if he showed up unannounced, looking for a place to go. With how dangerous this situation was, he could not risk it.

 

The blonde bartender arrived back in front of Ki with the bottle in hand, popping it open and handing it to him. “Anything else, sir?”

 

Ki shook his head. “Nothing right now, thanks though.”

 

“Yeah, sure thing.” He began to turn his attention back to the woman, but then he gasped. “Oh! My name’s Wonho, by the way. Call me if you want anything else.”

 

“I will, thank you.”

 

He then ducked out of the back of the counter, and started wiping down dirty tables.

 

Ki took a long sip of his drink, sighing with relief as it went down his throat. He missed that feeling. Somehow he had allowed himself to stray so far from what he was once addicted to that now the sting felt better than ever.

 

Setting it back down, Ki folded his arms, resting them on the counter, and placed his forehead on his forearm, covering his eyes from the lights around the bar.

 

He needed to think of where he’d go next. Otherwise, he’d most likely be dead by morning.

 

~~~~

 

Wonho doesn’t necessarily like assuming someone’s trouble as soon as they walk in. It stressed him out more than was healthy, watching them with cautious eyes, always making sure everything’s okay with them. Often it gets tiring, and it’s never nice to not pay attention to a nice customer who just wants a drink so relax after a hard day.

 

He never likes doing it, but sometimes it happens. And right now, the man he just served gave him one of those vibes. Of course he can’t deny him a drink, because he doesn’t know if he’s in fact trouble or not. But his eyes never waivered off of his back as he cleaned tables off with a damp rag.

 

Wonho pushed chairs back underneath their tables, sweeped, and said goodbye to the other three customers before he ran behind the counter and began washing dirty mugs and cups that he had gone through during the night. Still, the man was there, his head buried into his arms, his beer nearly gone.

 

“Sir, are you alright?”

 

He hummed in reply to his words, not bothering to lift his head. “Just thinking.”

 

“Do you want me to open up another bottle for you?”

 

“I don’t want to give you more to do, you’re busy.” He replied, now sitting upright, his head no longer laying on the counter.

 

“I’m here to serve you.” Wonho stated.

 

“I know that.” He said, grabbing the neck of his nearly empty beer bottle, and swirling what was left around in the glass. “If I could just get one more, I should be okay.”

 

Wonho smiled. “Okay, sure thing.”

 

“Do you own this place?” His customer asked, his eyes placed on him as he bent down to his fridge and grabbed another bottle.

 

“Yeah. It’s been in my family for a while. Ever since my dad passed, I’ve been running it.” He said, prying the lid off the bottle and handing it to him. “I don’t have much money to pay other people to work here, so I do everything.”

 

“I’m surprised you keep it up so well.” The man said, before taking a long sip of his drink.

 

“It’s my livelihood, I have to keep it in good shape.”

 

“Tell me, though.” He leaned on the counter. “You use those muscles of yours to kick people out or what?”

 

“Whenever I get the time, I go to the gym. I don’t only use them for that, but yeah they go towards it. A lot of fights break out between some of my customers, so I need something to help me out.”

 

The man sighed. “That makes sense.” He took another long swig before his eyes landed on Wonho’s. “Can I ask yoh something?”

 

“Go for it.”

 

“Do you know any good places someone could stay... if they were hiding from something?”

 

Wonho’s eyes widened. Was this the trouble he was sensing from him? Why was he running? “There’s a motel nearby, but I think the check-in office may be closed. That’s about all we have in terms of hotels within a five mile radius.”

 

The young guy stayed quiet, gulping down his beer, and handing Wonho the bottle. “Okay.” He snatched his coat off of the stool next to him, and started to put it on. Then, he dug out some dollar bills and gave them to Wonho. “Thanks for the drinks, Wonho.”

 

Wonho gave him a slight nod. “You’re welcome.” Thinking he wad about to leave, he threw the bottle in the trash, and turned his back to him, beginning to put the clean mugs back in their place.

 

“Can you do me a favor?”

 

Wonho perked up. “Depends.”

 

“If someone comes in here asking for someone named Kihyun, please lie to them. If you don’t, they’ll kill you. I don’t want that.” He told him. Right after he said that, he disappeared out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 2! let’s go  
> i’m posting this now cause i couldnt wait but updates will be more spaced out after this  
> i’ll be busy next week so i’m gonna try my hardest to update maybe thursday  
> can’t promise anything  
> anyway, enjoy  
> song of the chapter?: KNOCK- KNK

Kihyun doesn’t know exactly what he was thinking when he told him his name and what was going on. Technically he hadn’t told him much of anything, but everything he said seemed suspicious.

 

He wasn’t running from something; he was running from someone. Recently he had gotten himself in some things he shouldn’t have, and now someone was after him. Kihyun hadn’t done anything wrong, but he was in someone’s sights.

 

All of his friends knew about him and his problems, but they can’t do anything, otherwise they’d be in their sights too. Kihyun definitely didn’t want them to suffer like he was, so he made them promise to not get involved. If they do, they had to side with the person they’re against.

 

He cared for his friends as if they were his family; they were all he had left. But he couldn’t forgive himself if one of them got caught up in this. All he could do is pray to God that they wouldn’t be hurt.

 

~~~~

 

Orion opened everyday at 12pm, mainly as a restaurant for sandwiches or any snack Wonho served. Many people still come to eat, as that’s one of his specialties. However, it’s not really as busy as it is around 10-11. People come and go, but Wonho was always busy cooking up orders, whether it was for two people or ten.

 

Sometimes he regretted not having another worker by his side, but he liked having control over what was served, and how he wanted people to be teeated by employees. If he was the only employee, then no one could break his rules and expectations.

 

Suddenly, a man entered the joint wearing a nice suit. He seemed like a businessman, sporting dressy shoes and a tie. Everything looked so expensive on him that it made him feel unworthy of looking at him.

 

He approached the counter with a smile. “Hello!”

 

“Hi, Welcome to Orion’s! How may I serve you today?”

 

“Well, I’m not actually looking to order food. I just came with some questions to ask.” He spoke quietly, flashing a police badge at Wonho.

 

Wonho gulped. “Is it about Junho? He’s been doing good, I swear.” Junho was one of his customers who was also on parole. Overall he was a nice guy; Wonho could never imagine that he was in jail.

 

“No, no. If his parole officer hasn’t come by than I can assure you he’s doing okay. It’s actually about someone else.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo that looked like it was shot from a polaroid.

 

It was the man from last night, smiling wide at whoever was holding the camera. It didn’t look like it was somethingn that a police officer would have, since all they usually use in these cases are surveillance photos. The police have come by before and have questioned him, but it was never someone dressed like this.

 

“Who’s that?” Wonho asked, wiping down a glass with a rag slowly, trying to edge off his nerves by cleaning.

 

“His name is Yoo Kihyun. I was told he was in the area a few days ago by some locals.”

 

“Hmm. I don’t recognize him.” That was true, it didn’t seem like the same person he had spoken to a few nights ago. Plus, he was concealing part of his face the entire time.

 

“Maybe he came by last night?”

 

“I don’t remember anyone looking like him . I treat the customers here like family, and if I never once saw him than it’s likely he was never here.” Wonho said. He rememberedevery customer, whether they’re new or not.

 

He narrowed his eyes at Wonho, but put the photo away anyway. “Thank you for your time.”

 

As he was walking away, Wonho called out to him again. “If he does come here, do you have a card or something I can have so I can contact you?”

 

“Sure. Here, you can have my personal number.“ He clicked a pen and sliding a napkin in front of him. He scribbled down some sloppy numbers, and his name above them. “Make sure you call me if you see him anywhere.”

 

“Why do you need him anyway?”

 

“That’s none of your concern.”

 

Wonho blinked. “Fair enough.”

 

“I’ll be leaving now. I hope you have a good day, Wonho.” The man said, winking slightly before turning and exiting the bar.

 

Wonho was frozen in place. How in the world did that guy know his name? Throughout the brief conversation, he never told him his name. Was he really a cop?

 

More importantly, what did that man do to have cops on his ass? What kind of person was Wonho lying for?

 

~~~~

 

Weeks went by before anyone had mentioned who had shown up at his bar. And Wonho was completely fine with it, despite all the worry that was clawing at his stomach. He wasn’t a pure soul who exactly enjoyed the police scouring his business. In fact, he had trouble liking the law, since most of the people who bought from him were ex-convicts. Most of the time he’ll ask them to leave as respectfully as he can muster, because it’s better for them to not come inside and hang out with felons.

 

After a long day of serving, Wonho closed up shop. The sound of the door clicking closed somewhat made Wonho relax in his shoes, because it meant that he could finally go home and get some rest. Recently, he had a hard time sleeping. Some things from his past were stirring in the back of his mind, and sometimes he wished he wasn’t working every night and had time to drink his own products.

 

Once he finished washing the rest of the dishes and mopping the floors, Wonho sighed with relief. It was weird knowing that he was going to take a week off. He hadn’t had a break since he started, but he really needed one.

 

Maybe he could focus on himself for once. Or maybe, just maybe, he could dig into why all of this cop business was happening.

 

Ever since that Changkyun guy visited, there’s been cops in here every couple days, asking around for someone. They were asking for someone who went by I.M, though Wonho had no idea who that was.

 

He counted that about 5 different detectives have come around here, and every time they left with nothing. This whole time, Wonho’s been trying to collect information himself, seeing if the I.M guy they’re looking for is connected to Changkyun.

 

In the gloomy air of Wonho’s musty bar, he hopped over onto his side of the bar counter, and served himself a drink. It had been maybe 4 or 5 years since he’s even had time to drink at his own bar, so he was going to take advantage of this quiet to enjoy some whiskey.

 

While he sipped the brownish colored liquid, he thought about his mother. He wasn’t sure how she was doing, as she had left a few years ago to live with his younger brother. His brother had married a few years ago, and had a house in the big city. Because of how demanding working at the bar was for Wonho, she decided to move in with Seojoon.

 

Unfortunately, he hadn’t found enough time to visit her until recently. Maybe he’d go visit her.

 

Wonho grunted and got up from his stool, hearing his knees pop beneath him. His legs were tired from all the standing today, and over the last few days he had just finally gotten back to going to the gym. For some reason he stopped going for a few weeks.

 

When he finished his drink, he trudgingly washed the cup, and worked his way to the kitchen. The room was dark, so he flipped the light switch, which illuminated the room in a bright LED glow.

 

There on his kitchen counter was a note, folded neatly so it would stay up like a pitched tent. He doesn’t recall it being there when he was back here a few moments ago.

 

Wonho, although alarmed, snatched the paper off the metal island and proceeded to read it.

 

_Thanks for covering for me. Here’s a small token of my appreciation._

-K

 

Underneath the note was 500 dollars laid neatly in a small pile.

 

Wonho was stunned. He accepted the generous amount of money, but he was wondering how in the world Kihyun knew he covered for him? Was he watching this whole time? If he was and Wonho didn’t notice, just how dangerous could this guy be? Did he pick the wrong side in this story?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise!
> 
> sorry i couldn’t wait
> 
> song of the chapter: I wonder- EDEN

Ki had in fact been keeping an eye on Wonho. Due to how his situation was, he had grown very good at blending in, and disguising himself. He had to be good at it, otherwise he’d be caught. And if he were caught... who knows what would happen.

 

He had always intended to treat Wonho with something, since he could sense this guy had a big heart and followed his gut. The fact that he saved Ki for a few more weeks from the wrath of Changkyun was just an added bonus.

 

From the safety of an abandoned parking garage, Ki observed the Orion, keeping tabs on who walked in and out of the oak door. He didn’t want the poor bartender running into his enemies and pay the price for it.

 

After Ki left the note and slipped out of the Orion undetected, he desperately ran to his safe house, paranoid that someone would recognize him outside of his hiding place. Determined to not mess up this time, Ki shook his head, and sprinted down the alleyway, taking a sharp left turn, and banging into the old staircase door. The door gave weigh as soon as Ki collided with it, causing him to nail the side of the concrete stairs with some force.

 

Groaning loudly, he picked himself up and continued up the stairs until he got to the 5th floor. He entered his little tempoaray camp with a frustrated flame in his eyes. Gripping his side, he plopped down on his blanket, and sighed.

 

_No one saw me. No one saw me. Let’s hope no one did. Oh, fuck, what if he saw me?_

 

Ki cursed under his breath, shaking his head. He was so desperate. He wanted all of this to go away.

 

“Damn Changkyun.” He growled, his hands curling up into fists. His name alone was enough to make his stomach churn with all the anger in the world. “Damn you.”

 

At this point, hot tears travelled down Ki’s cheeks. He never thought he’d be here, hiding in an abandoned building, cursing someone’s name who once meant the world to him. Cursing him for everything he’s done. Cursing him for everything he did to Hyungwon. Cursing him for how the world has come to be.

 

God, Kihyun just wished it would all end.

~~~~

 

The next day, Wonho woke up in his bed. His body was stuck underneath the covers, as if he was glued there. In reality, Wonho really didn’t want to move. But, he had already messaged his brother saying he would visit today for a couple days.

 

Grudgingly he got dressed, his face still deep into his pillow. One leg at a time, he slid on some old jeans, and sighed, rubbing his pillow befofe getting up fully and fixing his bed.

 

“I’ll miss you, too.” Wonho fake cried, hugging his bed. “You’ll be fine without me.”

 

He detached himself from his plush mattress, and threw on a stylish tangtop to go along with his jeans. Over top of that, he put a leather jacket that had his dad’s name on it where his shoulder blades were. Later, after his hair was all gelled and ruffled together to make a somewhat decent looking hairstyle, he grabbed the black bookbag he packed last night, and headed out the door.

 

It was time to head to Seoul for two days. Somehow, he knew this vacation would be good for him, but he felt in his gut that things would be different when he got back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song of the chapter: ERROR- VIXX

_"Kihyun, what are you doing?”_  
  
_Hyungwon’s groggy voice echoed in the sterile room. Kihyun jumped at the sound, realizing he noticed he wasn’t beside him._  
  
_“What does it look like I’m doing?” Kihyun asked in response, flipping the question on him._  
  
_“I don’t know, I’m too lazy to open my eyes.” His skinny friend groaned before he shifted to face the kitchen where Kihyun was cooking breakfast. “I smell food.”_  
  
_“I’m cooking.”_  
  
_“Why?”_  
  
_“Because I felt like I needed to pay you back with something.”_  
  
_Hyungwon sat up. “That’s not necessary,” he grumbled, rubbing away the sleep from his eyes. “I’m your friend remember? We’re supposed to be there for each other.”_  
  
_“I know that. But you’re helping a heartbroken friend out. Can’t I repay the favor with some food?”_  
  
_“What are you making?”_  
  
_“Your favorite, of course. Only the best for you, my love.” Kihyun replied, starting to saute some vegetables._  
  
_Hyungwon smiled lazily, and set his head back down on his pillow. “This is why we’re best friends.”_  
  
_“Yes, because making food is all I’m good for,” Kihyun shook his head, laughing loudly at the grinning Hyungwon._  
  
Kihyun was startled awake by the sound of a can toppling to the ground. A bird squawked in surprise of what it had done, and flew away.   
  
He sighed deeply, and fell back into his blankets, distraught that his dream of Hyungwon wasn’t reality.   
  
He was close to death. His best friend was being taken care of by doctors in a hospital nearby, though he was struggling to stay alive. Kihyun always considered him strong, and everytime he fell ill, he would fight it off in a matter of days. He’d be okay. He had to keep telling himself he’d be okay.  
  
Kihyun shook his head wildly, pressing his hands on his eyes and groaning loudly. What use was it to think back on old memories? It only made him worry more. And right now, he didn’t need that piled up on top of everything.  
  
Part of him wanted to tell Wonho the predicament he was in, so he could somewhat understand why he was so distant.   
  
When he slid on some clothing, he snuck outside of his hideout, and headed towards the bar. Only when he reached for the door’s handle, it was suddenly locked.  
  
Kihyun bit his lip, pulling again a few times before giving up and peering inside through the sliver of glass on the door. Nothing was on, even the lights that were usually left on by him.  
  
He quickly turned for the back door, but that was sadly locked, too.  
  
_Wonho wasn’t here. Where could he be?_  
  
_Hopefully far from here_ , Kihyun said to himself, letting go of his desire to see the blonde man and walking away.  
  
He figured it was a good thing that Wonho had skipped town, even if it were for a few days. It meant that Kihyun could breathe a little bit knowing that they couldn’t get to him. Especially because Wonho and Kihyun barely knew each other.  
  
He made sure that no one was around, and then returned back to his camp, cooking himself up something with produce he had bought the other day. Ki had trouble eating ever since everything started, but he at least eats once every other day to keep his energy up. Never know when he’s going to need it.  
  
Kihyun cooked silently, searing a small piece of chicken in a pan over a camp stove. His eyes were stuck on paying attention to his food, but his mind was elsewhere.  
  
_He hasn’t found out about him yet. That’s good, considering he found out about Minhyuk in a matter of days. It’s been a month. I wonder if he’s losing motivation to keep stalking me._  
  
~~~~  
  
“Hello?”   
  
Wonho’s phone had been ringing non-stop for about 5 minutes now, and he had no choice . He had checked the number the first time it rang, but he didn’t recognize it. And this phone was brand new, since he broke his while at his brother’s house. So he hadn’t gave his number out to anyone except people he knew.  
  
“Hey! This is Im Changkyun. How are you, Wonho?”  
  
Wonho frowned slightly, ruffling his hair with his free hand. “How did you get my number?”  
  
“Oh, I asked one of your bar friends.” He said, laughing.  
  
Wonho was genuinely becoming weirded out. This man was definitely not law enforcement. There was no way he could’ve tracked him down this fast on a new number. That was impossible. “I just got a new phone and number.”  
  
“Hey, listen! I heard from the other officers that Kihyun is still hanging around in your area. You have to be careful.”  
  
Wonho hesitated. “Um... okay.” He really didn’t want to raise any suspicion on himself, but he also knew that now he was dealing with some creepy man. “I’ll keep an eye out for the man, okay?”  
  
Changkyun chuckled on the other line. “Okay! Good. Hope you’re doing well!”  
  
Changkyun hung up.   
  
Wonho didn’t know what to think. Here he was, alone on a train headed back to his house after visiting his family, and he was immediately thrown back into this conflict between two men he happened to know (if you could even say that). Somehow one of them managed to get a number he didn’t posses until a day ago, and speak to him about being careful. Yet the other was no where to be found, but had time to leave him some reimbursement for keeping him safe.  
  
What the hell did he get himself into? More importantly, what was he going to do?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise!  
> i posted twice because it wasn't long enough  
> i'm writing a lot for this story, and in fact it'll probably end somewhat soon  
> BUT i will make the updates a little more dragged out, as the "chapters" will be longer
> 
> anyway  
> thank you for reading  
> song of the chapter: MAMACITA- Super Junior

After what seemed to be an endless night, Wonho’s alarm sounded throughout his empty apartment. He flinched slightly, as the siren knocked him out of his daze. Somehow, he had managed to get no sleep whatsoever. No, he was more worried about what the hell went down on the train. This Changkyun guy really freaked him out.  
  
Why did he contact him? Just to tell him to be careful? There had to be more to it if he had somehow gotten his phone’s number. There was no way someone like him would call just to “check in.”   
  
There was more to it than what he made it off to be.  
  
Wonho sighed, and rubbed his tired eyes out of pure frustration and anxiety. Was he overthinking about this? Didn’t this guy say he was a cop? Couldn’t he have access to things that other people don’t? What if he was just doing it to warn him?  
  
Reluctantly, Wonho climbed out of his bed,   and shuffled to the bathroom. Turning the faucet on, he splashed water on his face, hoping to knock him out of this worrying state. All he wanted to do that day was to work and talk to people he admired. There was no way he wanted to be stuck thinking about that man’s actions all day.  
  
Thirty minutes flew by before Wonho stepped outside of his apartment, welcoming the cold weather with open arms. The bitterness of the chilly air smacked him in the face, draining the feeling of being tired from Wonho’s body.  
  
Quickly, he marched down the sidewalk, trying to keep himself warm. Luckily, he didn’t live far from the joint, so he wouldn’t grow too cold before he found himself in front of the bar. He walked around to the back, his keys jingling, the lanyard wrapped around his fingers.  
  
He tapped his foot to the beat of his music, as he unlocked the door, and stepped inside.  
  
Immediately, he’s met with the face of Im Changkyun, the one that had been on his mind for the past week. Wonho’s eyes widened with fear, stumbling back a few feet as Changkyun smiled at him.  
  
“Wonho! It’s nice to see you back.” The creepy guy said, patting Wonho’s shoulder gingerly. “I have some news.”  
  
Wonho was too shocked to respond. His mind was rushing in with new theories of who this man might be. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you get in here? Both of the doors are locked!”  
  
“Oh, your windows aren’t locked.” He said too nonchalantly. His smile faded, and was replaced with a face full of suspicion. “Anyway, I have something to tell you. It’s about Kihyun.” Changkyun’s eyes stared directly at Wonho’s, making Wonho ten times more uncomfortable and frightened than he was before.  
  
This man was out of his mind. He was not who he posed to be. He was not a cop. He’s a lunatic.  
  
~~~~  
  
_Since Kihyun had been staying with Hyungwon, Changkyun had almost completely escaped his mind. There was always some part of him worried about what he might’ve been doing around that time, but he could care less. They were happy together, until he showed his true colors and started obsessing over Kihyun._  
  
_Eventually it drove Kihyun away from him, no matter how hard he tried to ignore his addiction to him. It was getting to the point where he was uncomfortable just seeing him everyday. His friends didn’t ask to hang out with him anymore, because they knew Changkyun would only try to drag Kihyun back home and curse at them._  
  
_He broke up with him, and that was that. Since he had moved in with him, he had no where to stay. So Hyungwon offered to help and let him become his roommate. He was extremely grateful that he had a friend who would do that._  
  
_However, as much as Kihyun wanted to get away from that boy, he kept coming back. Somehow, he’d always be in the restaurants Hyungwon and him would eat out at, walking past their home as they step outside, and he was almost always outside Kihyun’s window at work._  
  
_It never stopped. Both of the men called the police on him, but nothing ever happened. He just kept stalking them. No matter where they were, he would be there._  
  
_The day that the running started was the day that kept replaying in Kihyun’s nightmares._  
  
_Opening the door. Finding Changkyun looking down at Hyungwon, who was surrounded by a pool of his own blood. His ex boyfriend, smiling, admiring his work. Blood dripping from the blade he had in his hands._  
  
_“Oh, hey babe! Look what I did! Now he can’t keep you here anymore.” The younger said with a large crazy grin on his face._  
  
_“What the fuck did you do?!”_  
  
_“I got rid of your kidnapper, just like I was supposed to. Are you proud of me?”_  
  
_Kihyun didn’t know what to do. He wanted to help Hyungwon, but there was an insane man standing right in front of him._  
  
_“I asked you a question, babe.” Changkyun slid over to him, and put his hand on Kihyun’s shoulder._  
  
_Kihyun, who was at this point panicking, immediately pushed him away. “Get away from me! You’re a monster! Why would you ever think I’d be proud of you for doing this to him? Call someone!”_  
  
_“What? Why? He was keeping you here, wasn’t he? I freed you so you could come back with me and we could be together forever.” His ex’s face was filled with genuine confusion._  
  
_“I wanted to be here, Changkyun. I wanted to get away from you. You’re such a sick human being. I hate you.” Kihyun said, waving him off. He called the emergency services, and they told them they’d be on their way._  
  
_“But-“_  
  
_“But nothing, Changkyun. Go away. I don’t love you anymore. I hate you. I hate you. You’re a freak.”_  
  
_Kihyun began to cry. He knelt next to Hyungwon, grabbing his hand and keeping it warm. Remarkably his friend was still conscious, but he knew he’d pass out soon. If they didn’t get there fast enough, he’d die right in his own home._  
  
_Once the paramedics had Hyungwon on a gurney, Kihyun was asked to go with him to the hospital. However, he declined their offer, only wishing for a call from the hospital when he arrived and information on the room he’d be staying in._  
  
_Changkyun was still out there. He couldn’t risk his best friend’s life even more by staying with him. Someway somehow he needed to figure something out with him._  
  
_Somehow he was going to make him pay for what he did._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys, please comment if you have any constructive criticism!!  
> i really enjoy reading it  
> this is my second story so i know it's a little rough around the edges  
> but pleaSe  
> thank u uwu


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i decided there will be updates every 2-4 days depending on the length of the update
> 
> so look out for them :)
> 
> like i said this is probably going to be shorter so there probably wont be many updates after this
> 
> thanks for your support and comments <3
> 
> song of the chapter: Sherlock- SHINee

“Wonnie, buddy, are you okay?”

 

Wonho jumped at the sound of his name being called, using a plate he was cleaning as a shield from an imaginary

blow.

 

Jooheon laughed slightly at Wonho’s reaction, but then grew a look of concern on his face. “Whoa, man. Is something on your mind? You’re completely out of it.”

 

Wonho realized he dozed off yet again, and shook his head wildly. “No, no. I’m okay, I promise.” He backed it up with a reassuring smile, and continued to rinse off the dirty plate he was wielding.

 

Jooheon raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? That’s like the fifth time you’ve done that today. You only do that when you’re worried about something.”

 

“Yeah. I’m fine,” is all Wonho could muster within the debilitating anxiety that was eating him up inside.

 

The man who climbed through his window informed him more on Kihyun. Though his gut didn’t believe what he was saying, he couldn’t help but be suspicious about it. He told him that he was very manipulative, and would do anything to get his way, including bribery.

 

Bribery. Could he consider the 500 dollars Kihyun gave him bribery? Because technically it wasn’t, it was a gift...

 

Still, how did this man have any idea of what Kihyun did with money? Did he know him that well? Everything was so confusing at this point, he just wanted to curl up in a ball at home for days on end.

 

“Wonho!”

 

Wonho was startled again by Jooheon, but this time the glass in his hand fell and shattered at his feet.

 

The loud noise hushed everyone who was attending the bar, but only for a short moment. Everything picked back up once Wonho assured them everything was fine.

 

Rushing, Wonho raced to pick up his mess he made. If only he wasn’t so distracted...

 

Jooheon sighed. “Do you need help?”

 

The bartender shook his head.

 

It took him a few minutes to sweep up the shards of glass and safely dispose of them before he could put his attention back to serving Jooheon.

 

“Wonho, what’s going on?”

 

Wonho wanted to tell him. He really did. But what good would it do him? He’s in such a horrible position between two men who clearly want different things. If he does something wrong, somehow Wonho knew Changkyun would find out sooner or later.

 

“I can’t talk about it. Not right now.” Wonho said, focusing his attention to fixing him a drink.

 

“Wonho, you know you can trust me.”

 

“No, I can’t.” Wonho snapped. Jooheon looked taken aback. They’ve been friends since they were little. He sighed deeply. “At least not in this situation.”

 

“Oh god, what have you gotten yourself into now...?”

 

“I wish I knew.”

 

~~~~

 

Jooheon did Wonho a favor and stuck around for the next few hours. Usually the bar empties at 1-2am on week days, which came and left quickly. There were still a few people left, and some were just arriving.

 

“What’s up with all the people tonight?”

 

Wonho shrugged. “How could I know? It’s not something I’m doing.”

 

Just then, another man entered, but Wonho immediately had an idea of who it was. His stomach dropped.

 

Wonho’s eyes didn’t dare glance away from the masked man’s face. He couldn’t. He had to be careful.

 

Kihyun sat away from Jooheon and anyone else, and then rested his head on the counter once again.

 

Wonho bit his lip, and turned to Jooheon. “I’ll be right back.”

 

Jooheon had a curious look on his face, but he nodded anyway.

 

Slowly, Wonho creeped over to Kihyun, and brought over the same beer he gave him last time. “Welcome back.”

 

Kihyun’s body was trembling. He quickly lifted his head to make eye contact with him, and then glanced at the bottle.

 

“You know, your friend visited me this morning.” Wonho whispered to him.

 

Kihyun’s head shot up this time. “What did he say?”

 

Wonho stayed quiet.

 

“Wonho, you can’t trust him. Y-You just can’t.”

 

“How can I trust you, though? I’ve been thrown in between both of you, and I have no idea what to do. I have no idea who you are.”

 

In the corner of his eye, Wonho tensed as he saw Jooheon crawl closer to the two of them, observing their conversation.

 

Kihyun sighed. “I know, I know.” Then he went silent for a moment. “Is that your friend, there?”

 

He pointed to Jooheon, who was trying to not look obvious.

 

Wonho scratched his neck nervously. “Why do you want to know?”

 

“I know he’s watching us. You get pretty good at noticing someone watching you when you’ve been stalked for several years.” Kihyun admitted with a dry laugh.

 

The bartender’s eyes narrowed. “Stalked, huh?”

 

“Yeah. Did you want to know the connection between Changkyun and I?” He asked, bringing the bottle up to his lips. “He’s my stalker.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow  
> okay seriously updates will be slower after this  
> cause ive posted pretty much everything ive completed  
> but im really glad people like this  
> it motivates me a lot when the hits go up  
> AND THE COMMENTS  
> LEAVE ME A COMMENT  
> JUST YEET IT  
> PLS  
> I LOVE READING THEM
> 
> also txt debuted today, right?  
> is it good?
> 
> edit: of course it’s good- what am i thinking?  
> stream crown y’all.

“That explains a lot, actually.”

 

Wonho briefly had a flash of memories of Changkyun, and how creepy he acted around him. He was literally obsessed with Kihyun, always talking about him when he spoke to Wonho.

 

“I think I’ve gotten you too deep into this situation between Changkyun and I. So, I can’t say what will happen. But, he’s dangerous.”

 

“Funny, he said the same about you.”

 

“You’d be dead if I wanted to hurt you.” Kihyun said coldly, his eyes staring into Wonho’s overwhelmed ones. “But I never would. I still won’t. Why would I when all you’ve done is help me?”

 

“Who knows? Psychopaths can turn on their word in seconds.”

 

Kihyun laughed again. It was weird hearing it out of Kihyun, who never really spoke in the first place. At least he didn’t really talk the last time they saw each other. “Fair enough. But, I’ll tell you that I’m not talking to you now and filling you in solely because I want to hurt you later. That’s not how I do things.”

 

The more Wonho thought about it, the more he knew that Kihyun was the truthful one between the two of them. “Okay. Now, I have questions for you. Will you answer them?”

 

Kihyun became uneasy. “Uh- S-Sure.”

 

Wonho hummed while he thought of how to word his many things to ask. “Who is he to you?”

 

“Changkyun? He’s my ex.” Kihyun responded, gulping down more of his beer.

 

“Really?”

 

Kihyun nodded. “Anymore questions?”

 

“Have you tried to call the police?” Wonho knew this was kind of a dumb question, considering that Changkyun had been impersonating an officer ever since he came in.

 

“Yeah I have. They didn’t want to do anything about it. But, they’ve been trying to find him for other reasons.”

 

“What other reasons?”

 

“I’m not really sure, but you’ve been asked about a person that goes by I.M, correct? That’s Changkyun.”

 

Everything was piecing together unexpectedly. This whole time Wonho was thinking they were connected somehow, but in reality they’re the same person.

 

“They’re after him because he robbed a bank, and tortured the standing security officer in there.” Wonho said quietly.

 

Kihyun’s eyes grew wide. “What? Oh my god...”

 

“How did you know he went by I.M?”

 

Kihyun seemed like he was dozing off, but he answered anyway. “That was his name in my phone. I.M. Im Changkyun.”

 

All this time, Wonho was being confronted by a known criminal. And he had no idea. What did this mean for him? Did it mean that eventually he was going to be a victim of him? Oh, he hoped that wasn’t the case.

 

Blonde haired Wonho noticed that Kihyun was growing uneasy the more that he spoke. So, he decided to leave him be for a little while, serving him another drink before tending to his needy Jooheon.

 

“Who is that?” Jooheon asked, his pleading eyes

 

“It’s better if you don’t know.” Wonho said truthfully. There was no way that he would let someone who he thinks of as a brother get involved in this. “Now what do you want? You’ve been blowing up my phone.”

 

Jooheon snickered. “I knew it was in your pocket.”

 

The blonde rolled his eyes.

 

“What do you want?” repeated Wonho.

 

Jooheon paused for a moment to look around. Barely anyone was in there anymore; they had all dispersed while he was speaking to Kihyun. It was basically just them three left, besides that one guy that was too hammered to even balance on his two feet.

 

After Wonho helped that man into an uber, he locked the front door, and turned off his open light.

 

Jooheon smiled wide. “Awesome. Now we can drink together!”

 

“Who would wanna do that?” Wonho replied with a look of disgust on his face.

 

He whined. “Hoseokkieeee.”

 

Wonho grumbled. “Shut up, I’m coming. Let me make myself a drink, okay?”

 

~~~~

 

What would Kihyun do? What would he do with himself if Changkyun got to Wonho?

 

Here he was, listening into him and his friend’s conversation, hearing them laugh and joke while having a drink. The two seemed close. Wonho wasn’t one to show much of his emotions while speaking to Kihyun, but in that moment, he was giggling and smiling like a little kid.

 

He was a little kid.

 

It hurt him immensely to see them acting like this, because he didn’t want this to be ruined. Deep down he knew that Changkyun probably already knows about Wonho. That they were connected. It wouldn’t be long until he’d attempt to do the same thing he did to Hyungwon.

 

He didn’t want that to happen. Of course he didn’t. This man had just been thrown into this because of him. This was his fault.

 

“ _It’s your fault, y’know. It’s your fault I had to do this._ ”

 

Changkyun’s voice echoed in his head from that dreaded night.

 

“ _If you didn’t run from me, from us, he would be okay.”_

 

Kihyun shot out of his seat and ran towards the restroom, locking the door behind him.

 

He couldn’t breathe. Breathe, breathe. He clawed at his mask, throwing it onto the ground, stumbling back from the door. His throat felt like it was swelling to no end; he was left gasping for air. Below him his knees gave out, himself falling onto the floor. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, making small puddles on the floor as he wheezed. No air was coming in; he could feel himself getting weaker as he struggled.

 

This was all his fault. There wasn’t anything else he could say. Wonho was going to get hurt. Because of him. Because of his selfishness. Because in reality, he was the villain. He would be the one who marked the end for Wonho.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one’s a short chapter
> 
> HEY SO NOT ONLY DID TXT DEBUT, BUT GOT7’S SECOND SUB-UNIT RELEASED AND KEY RELEASED NEW SONGS
> 
> I RECOMMEND ALL OF THEM
> 
> anyway I can 100% guarantee this update will be the last for several days. i’m all caught up with what i’ve written and it takes me time to write more.
> 
> i appreciate all of the people who read this, thank you so much for taking the time to read my story
> 
> song of the chapter: Focus on me- Jus2

Wonho was questioning himself. As he joked with Jooheon, he wondered. What was he going to do? Kihyun clearly didn’t want him getting even deeper into the problem he’s facing. While chatting, he saw the pain in Kihyun’s eyes. Changkyun must’ve done something horrible to him.

 

Why can’t he take it to the police? Wouldn’t they keep him in custody until they found Changkyun? He would be safe. Kihyun wouldn’t have to keep running away from him.

 

Just then, Kihyun darted off to the restroom, slamming the door behind him.

 

Jooheon frowned. “What’s up with him? Too much to drink?”

 

The bartender shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. He’s had less to drink than he had last time.”

 

“So he’s been here before.” His friend responded, his eyes glued to his phone.

 

“Of course he has. Why do you think I’d talk to him so long if he hadn’t?”

 

“I dunno.” Jooheon said, quickly checking the time on his phone before shutting it off. “Maybe you have a crush on him.”

 

The older groaned. “Jooheon, for the last time, I’m straight.”

 

“You keep telling yourself that, Wonnie.”

 

After punching Jooheon repeatedly in the arm, he sighed. “I hate you sometimes.”

 

~~~~

 

He wasn’t sure how long he had been cooped up in the bathroom. His sense of time had left him, so there he was, recovering from god knows what, catching his breath for the first time in what felt like ages.

 

 _Breathe_. _Breathe_. He focused solely on that, trying to fix himself after such a violent breakdown.

 

When was the last time he had a proper breakdown? At least like that one? Kihyun couldn’t recall, but his memory has always been a little fuzzy when it comes to them.

 

This one had to be the worst. By far.

 

Kihyun held his shaky hands underneath the tap, letting the warm water run through his fingers.

 

Outside, he couldn’t hear anything. It could be that he was further away from Wonho and his friend, and that he just couldn’t hear it. However, that suddenly gave him an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Would they surely be this quiet after they’ve been yelling and laughing ever since Wonho closed the joint?

 

Something felt odd.

 

Ki dried off his hands with some rough paper towel, and wrapped his hand around the door knob, unsure if he was ready to go back outside and face those two. What was he going to say he had? He didn’t even know, he just assumed they were breakdowns or something. Surely they’d think he was crazy, right?

 

As he prepared himself, his hand never left the knob. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, holding his breath as he opened the door.

 

Oh no. Kihyun’s eyes landed on Wonho. He was thrown on the ground, blood running down from his forehead. Somehow he had been tied up, heavy rope curled around his wrists like cuffs. There was a gag over his mouth, but as soon as he returned the glance, he started shouting.

 

_No, no, no... No this isn’t happening. He’s not here, he’s not here. No, i- Wonho locked him out! How did he get in? None of this makes any sense!_

 

Kihyun, however shocked he was, just stood there like an idiot, watching Won struggle with the rope around his wrists. There was a pained expression on his face, something that Kihyun never thought he’d have to see.

 

Should he help? Obviously he should. What would he do? He was barely strong enough to hold himself up on his two feet; there was no possible way he could break him out.

 

 _Think_ , _think_ , _think_. Kihyun ran his hands through his hair, overwhelmed at everything the world has thrown at him at once. First, he had the pathetic breakdown. Now this? An encounter with Changkyun that lead to Wonho being tied up like a hostage.

 

Was he still here? Could he creep out and manage to cut off Wonho’s restraints? Why didn’t he hear any of this? He could’ve prevented it! He could’ve done something so he wouldn’t have gotten hurt!

 

“W-Wonho, I’m s-so sorry.” Kihyun was truly exhausted; exhaling alone sent pain down into other parts of his chest. How would he continue like this? His vision became blurry again, and his head began to spin.

 

It was only moments before Kihyun collapsed right where he stood, unable to help his friend.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhh sorry about the wait, i've been writing a lot but i'm at a stand still  
> tryna figure things out  
> here tho, enjoy this:  
> song of the chapter: Queen- History

Wonho wasn’t worried about himself at this point in time. Sure, his head was pulsating with pain, blood dripping from the top of his brow. However, he wasn’t his top priority.   
  
Watching Kihyun go unconscious was a sight Wonho never wanted to see. On his way down, he slammed his forehead on the bar table; blood gushing from his temple as he hit the ground with astounding force.  
  
His wrists already felt sore from all the squirming; they felt raw from the rough rope rubbing against them. There was nothing comfortable about the predicament he found himself in.  
  
However, he’d gladly take something like this over what would eventually happen to him.  
  
While focused on trying to escape from his restraints, he seemed to miss when Changkyun had returned from wherever he went off to. Right as he climbed through the broken window and saw Kihyun completely passed out on the flood, he rushed to his side.  
  
“Kihyun!”  
  
No response. Didn’t this guy know he had pretty much checked out for a lengthy amount of time? (Wonho clearly could tell he wouldn’t wake up from something like that for a few days.) Or was he asking because he didn’t believe it?  
  
“What happened?” Changkyun asked, bringing Kihyun’s body closer to him, his head then burying into his chest.  
  
When there was no answer from anyone, he glared at Wonho, who was wriggling on the floor, working on his leg restraints.  
  
Changkyun dropped Kihyun gently back in the spot where he had fallen, but he placed a moist towel over his wound. Then, he turned to his hostage.  
  
“What. Happened.” He growled, his glance growing angrier by the second.  
  
Wonho obviously couldn’t respond due to the gag in his mouth. Though he doesn’t really think he was looking for an straight forward reply from him. This man was crazy. He’d use anything that Wonho can’t do as a reason to hurt him. After all, that’s how his forehead started bleeding.  
  
“Alright, be that way.” Changkyun said, with a slight glint of psychotic happiness in his eyes. His laugh echoed in the empty joint, as he bent down to Wonho. He smiled. “If you don’t want to cooperate with me, then we’ll have to do something about it.”  
  
Although he’s tried hard to remember what happened, his memory has failed him every time.  
  
~~~~  
  
Jooheon wasn’t sure what to do. Not only did he escape from Wonho’s bar by the skin of his teeth, he never paid attention to where he was going. What was he going to do next?  
  
“Wonho, what’s-“  
  
A man was leaning on his kitchen door’s frame, his arms crossed, and his eyes focused lazily on Wonho’s tense figure.  
  
“Jooheon, I think it’s best that you go.” Wonho suddenly said, his hands clapping on his shoulders as he practically shoved Jooheon towards the front door.  
  
“Whoa whoa whoa wait a minute Wonho,” Jooheon tried to hold his ground, but alas, he was a stick compared to his buff friend. Soon, he found himself face to face with the sidewalk, his arms knocked by his sides.  
  
Jooheon quickly gathered himself and shot up, turning to see Wonho moving away from the door. “Wonho!”  
  
Hesitantly, Wonho peered over his shoulder. “Jooheon, don’t worry. You take care of Yoshi.”  
  
While Jooheon stood there, completely surprised at what just happened, Wonho walked away, locking the front door and closing the blinds.  
  
“Take care of Yoshi...” He repeated aloud. Yoshi had died a few years ago. _What did he mean by that?_  
  
Then, Jooheon froze, his eyes growing wide. _He couldn’t have meant that, could he? Could he truly be in that much trouble?_  
  
All those years ago, when they were still kids, him and Won played around in the nearby park, pretending to be spies for the government.  
  
 _“We need to come up with a phrase or word that both of us can say to each other that no one will ever figure out.” Hoseok said, as he fiddled with sticks, figuring out what he could try to build._  
  
 _“Do you have any ideas?”_  
  
 _“Mmm. Maybe. How about we mention Yoshi?”_  
  
 _“My cat? Why?”_  
  
 _“I dunno. People could take it like we’re talking about Mario.”_  
  
 _Jooheon tossed that idea around in his mind for a few moments. “It’s a good idea. Let’s go with that.”_  
  
 _He smiled in response to his idea being approved. “Awesome!”_  
  
 _“But wait, how would I know if you’re genuinely speaking about my cat?”_  
  
 _Wonho shrugged. “You’ll figure it out.”_  
  
Of course, they hadn’t used it since they made it up. However, he guessed it was something Wonho never forgot. Jooheon only remembered it now that his cat was gone.  
  
In this instance, he had to physically cover it up. In front of someone who could possibly hurt him. Badly. He’d never seen Wonho so scared of someone before.  
  
Moments later, Jooheon found himself running towards a friend’s house. He lived closer than him to the bar, and thinking logically, that was the best place he could go right now.  
  
Damn, it was so late. How was he going to explain this to Minhyuk?   
  
More importantly... would he wake up to answer the door? It was freezing and Jooheon didn’t bring his coat.  
  
There were so many things flooding Jooheon’s mind. Who in the hell did his best friend get involved with?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's longer so i thought it might work as a standalone, good length thingy  
> enjoy
> 
> song of the chapter: 1, 2, 3!- SEUNGRI

How did he get here?  
  
His eyes were adjusting to the darkness of the room, he didn’t know where he was. In fact, the last thing he remembered was being hit with the butt of a pistol across the face by the stalker.  
  
Great. This was exactly what he needed. Now customers of his won’t know what happened. Were they going to worry?  
  
More importantly, did Joo get his message? Did he know what he was talking about? He wondered if that code word was developed too long ago for him to recognize what he was saying.   
  
The room he was in was covered in filth, however it didn’t look like it was made recently. Items of furniture were thrown around, papers were strewn about, and stains marked the old carpet. There was an unbearable stench coming from somewhere; Wonho couldn’t identify it, but smelling it made his eyes well up with tears.   
  
The curtains that hung low across from him sent a beam of light into the room. Without that one sliver of sun leaking into the building, it would be fairly dark.  
  
So it’s morning. Wonho told himself, sighing deeply. His wrists burned from his struggle of breaking the ropes he had tied around them, and they were sensitive to the touch. He grunted slightly as the pain from his wound on his forehead returned with a vengeance.   
  
“Well. Glad to see you’re awake.”   
  
Changkyun was sitting on the kitchenette’s counter, glaring at him with a somewhat angry look. His legs were dangling off the side, and his arms were placed behind him, holding he up as he waited for Wonho to wake up.   
  
Wonho groaned. “Good morning, Changkyun.”  
  
He hopped off the counter, his feet stomping loud on the floor as she shuffled toward the bartender. Soon, he was face to face with the man.  
  
His smile grew when he saw him, as Wonho was clearly in pain. To see him like this was rare, as he had a problem showing that he was in pain. Ever since he was a little kid, he never told his mother if he was, until it got unbearable. He usually kept it to himself, but the wound he had was burning more intensely every minute that passed.  
  
“Hmm, is this hurting you?” He asked, promptly shoving his fingers into the cut, pressing hard on it, causing Wonho to bite his cheek before he was able to scream.  
  
Now it hurt ten times more than it had been, and blood began oozing out again.  
  
“Whoops, sorry.” Changkyun said with the most emotionless sounding voice out there. “ I didn’t know that would hurt you.”  
  
Wonho just held in the words he wanted to say to him, and shot daggers at him.  
  
Changkyun laughed. “What, are you mad at me? Aw. That’s cute.”  
  
He turned back to where he was perched upon the kitchen counter, and pulled out a box that was hidden in a drawer that was partially off its frame. From where he was, he couldn’t see what was inside of the random card board container, but regardless of what it was, Wonho was scared.  
  
On the far side of the room, there was a fireplace that was crumbling and stained black with ash. Underneath it seemed to be fairly new firewood, wood that looked like it was just added there recently.  
  
Changkyun picked up a pack of matches from the mysterious box, and then threw it aside. “I used to live in a home with a fireplace like this. It was in better shape than that one.” He got up from his seated position, and walked aimlessly towards the dilapidated stone fireplace, stepping carefully over debris from the last owners of this home. “Even though sitting around it and warming yourself up on a snowy day was great, there was another activity I enjoyed.”  
  
Forcefully, he plucked out one of the matches from its box and lit it, and tossed it into the pile of firewood. There was a tiny flame that emitted from the center, but it wasn’t strong enough to keep the fire going. Changkyun, who was looking slightly annoyed, grabbed the fire iron which was resting beside the wood in its holder.  
  
As he poked at the wood, maneuvering the logs as he pleased to get a stronger fire going, his oddly emotionless look morphed into a smile. “My dad always had me doing the job of using a fire iron just like this one. He gave me it because the fire mesmerized me so much, that when I was young I was tempted to jump into it. Because he was concerned, he gave me the job that had me take care of it while still being able to touch it, even if it wasn’t physically. I loved watching the wood burn and be crushed underneath the weight of the iron. It was almost... therapeutic to me.”  
  
Wonho’s cautious eyes never left the boy as he tended to the flame. Where the hell was this psycho going with this? Why did he have to have his ear talked off?   
  
As much as Wonho wanted to be afraid of this situation, he wasn’t. Sure, he was scared of Changkyun. However, since he knew Jooheon would pull through (which he always did), why be frightened by it? Someone will come to get him, and he was sure of it.  
  
Besides, he knew he could withstand a lot; he had already gone through enough in his lifetime.  
  
Wonho was thrown out of his thoughts by a solid right hook to the face. Though he was shocked, he was practically unfazed. Wonho angrily licked his lips, and smiled up at Changkyun. His kidnapper’s face was beet red, and Wonho was sure that if they were in a cartoon, he’d have steam shooting out of his ears.  
  
“I don’t like it when people don’t listen to me.”  
  
Wonho laughed bitterly. “Oh I’m sorry princess, I wasn’t aware I had to pay attention while you’re going over your sob story of a life.” He snarled, his words seeming to affect Changkyun more than ever.  
  
Changkyun bit his lip, and then reluctantly ripped himself away from Wonho’s chair. “Y’know, that’s fine. You don’t have to listen to me.” Suddenly, Changkyun yanked a pistol that was hidden behind his shirt, and pointed it straight at Wonho’s head. “I can simply make you listen to what I say. You’ll pay for what you did to my boyfriend.”  
  
Then, he fired.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for such a long wait!
> 
> i feel bad but i have some chapters for you, like three ^^
> 
> not today tho, i gotta post one for now cause the other two are still in progress
> 
> let me know if you enjoyed this! 
> 
> song of the chapter- Lucky One- EXO

_“Kihyun, can I ask you something?”_

 

_Changkyun sat across from him with a shy look on his face. They were at the restaurant that they had their first date in; a Mexican place that they could never pronounce the name of correctly. Kihyun was stuffing his face into an empanada he had ordered while Changkyun nervously fiddled with the straw inside of his drink._

 

_Kihyun glanced up, and noticed Changkyun’s face grow paler than a sheet of paper. Quickly, he swallowed his food and dabbed his mouth. “Yes, Kyunnie?”_

 

_“I need to ask you something.”_

 

_Whatever it was, Kihyun didn’t care. That tone of voice was so serious, even for Changkyun, that it instantly made him panic. What could he be asking that makes him so... shaky? “Uh, okay.”_

 

_Changkyun pressed his eyes shut for a few moments, before blurting out his question. “Will you let me protect you forever?”_

 

_Kihyun’s eyes grew wide for a moment. Then, he began to laugh. “What do you mean? We’re going to get married, aren’t we? That should mean we’re going to protect each other forever.” He knew that he shouldn’t have mentioned marriage so early into this relationship, but Changkyun made him so happy, and they were like two peas in a pod. They were perfect for each other._

 

_“I suppose so.” He said in a small voice, crossing his arms and staring at his untouched plate on the table in front of him. “I just need you to promise me that no matter what, you’ll let me protect you. From anything.”_

 

_The brunette smiled wide, giggling at his partner. “I can protect myself. But if there’s any instance that I can’t protect myself, then by all means.”_

 

_Changkyun seemed baffled by his answer. But that looked to do the trick, as he was complaining about him laughing at such a serious question, and began digging into his food._

 

How did he end up here?

 

On the inside, Kihyun wished it had never come to that point. Where he had to break up with him. If he had to be honest with himself, he was ready to die for him. He was so kind to everyone they met; so observant, so sweet... What happened to that? This wasn’t the Changkyun he knew and loved. It was like someone else was given the strings in his body and was now using him as a puppet.

 

It took Kihyun quite a while to realize that he wasn’t who he thought he was. And once he did, he was so hurt to see that the boy he considered kind and loving had turned to controlling and abusive. He was hostile to Kihyun’s friends; friends he had known for years. He’d smack Kihyun if he defied him, and tried sticking up for his friends.

 

And after a year of dealing with that, he had enough. He couldn’t deal with it anymore. He had prayed to whatever god that he’d come back; the black haired idiot who adored anime. None of it did any good.

 

It was a few months from their fourth anniversary when Kihyun ended it. Or tried to, at least. He had it all planned out. He told him what he had been holding in for so long. He cried. He told him he was sorry. He left.

 

He didn’t know what else to do with his life.

 

Now, he so desperately wished he was back where he was. With Changkyun, right where he left it. If it hadn’t been for him, everyone would’ve been okay. Everyone he cared about wouldn’t have been in danger.

 

This all was his fault.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise!
> 
> i’m hoping to finish up this story somewhat soon. i know this story isn’t as popular as my last work but that’s completely fine; unlike that one, i really enjoy writing this, as it’s something i’ve actually thought about for a while
> 
> i’ve been watching monsta x ray (which i didn’t have the pleasure of watching until recently) and i haven’t cried from laughing so hard in a while. i love them so much.
> 
> currently, i’m trying to see if i can get a ticket for one of their concerts. i’m not sure if i can go or if i’m able to afford one yet but if i can get a job before the concert, i’ll be saving up for that.
> 
> ANYWAY, enjoy this! sorry for the lengthy update in my life
> 
> song of the chapter: 빛이나 Shinin’ - Jonghyun

“Minhyuk, please let me in!” Jooheon banged on the older’s door, freezing and crying. “Please!”

 

A few moments later, a groggy Minhyuk slowly peeped through the glass hole in his door. Then, the sleepiness drained from his eyes, as he finally registered who was hiding behind the entrance.

 

He swung the door open, and peered outside to face Jooheon. “Joo? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

 

“Can I come in?”

 

“Of course! Why aren’t you wearing a jacket?”

 

“I didn’t have time to grab it.” Jooheon spoke with a shaky voice, his words filled with panic and worry. “Something’s happened.”

 

Minhyuk furrowed his eyebrows, closing the door beside Jooheon. He was sporting a bad bed head, and was in dog pjs. Even his slippers were dogs. Jooheon grinned a little at his look, but the smile quickly faded. “What do you mean?”

 

“I was at Wonho’s.”

 

“You mean your friend that owns Orion?”

 

The younger nodded. “He’s been dealing with some things lately. He wouldn’t tell me what, but he kicked me out after some man broke into his bar. I don’t know who it was, but considering he made me leave… it had to be serious. Plus, he used a code we made up as kids that he promised to use if we were ever to find ourselves in some trouble.”

 

“Someone broke into his bar?”

 

“I watched him lock the front door. But the man still managed to find his way inside.”

 

“Did you know what he looked like?” Minhyuk was picking up the phone as Jooheon struggled to grasp what had happened earlier. Wonho was his best friend; he didn’t want anything else to happen to him. The boy had already gone through so much.

 

He shook his head. “It was dark, he had a hood on. He looked a little shorter than me.”

 

“Okay.” Though Jooheon was an emotional mess, Minhyuk was calm. They were complete opposites. When they were younger, Jooheon tended to be the one who cried a lot, and who got mad by the smallest things. Minhyuk was the one who stayed calm, even though his personality would have people thinking otherwise.

 

“Do you want to talk to them? I’m not sure I can tell them everything, since I don’t know what happened.”

 

“I can’t talk to them right now, I’m a mess.”

 

Minhyuk sighed, and pulled Jooheon into a hug. “One moment, please,” He said into the phone, comforting his utterly confused and broken friend.

 

“Hey, it’ll be okay. If I know your friend, he’s very resilient. He’ll get through whatever he’s in, at least until we can help him.” Minhyuk whispered calmly. “I do need you to tell me what happened though, so I can report it.”

 

A few minutes later, Jooheon had winded down his crying to sniffles, and slowly he told Minhyuk what he saw, and what might be happening.

 

“He wouldn’t tell me who his friend was, and I’ve never seen him before.” Jooheon stated, and Minhyuk repeated it into the phone. “But while he stepped away to talk to him, I did overhear something from their conversation. The person was being stalked by someone who’s apparently got a warrant out for their arrest.”

 

Minhyuk’s eyes widened as he heard that information. “Oh no.” He paused before telling that to the operator.

 

There was a small conversation that went back and forth between the operator and Minhyuk, before he pulled the phone away from his mouth. “Did you catch a name, Joo?”

 

“I.M?”

 

“His name?” Minhyuk questioned? “That’s the name you heard?”

 

“I know that’s not his real name, but just check with them.”

 

“Uh, he says his name is I.M.” Minhyuk says hesitantly, and he’s surprised when the operator told him to wait a moment, and patched him through to a detective, who they woke up for this call.

 

Minhyuk restated everything he had said before to the person, and he immediately thanked him for the information. Apparently, I.M was someone that they had nothing on, besides that callsign and maybe a few other pieces of evidence.

 

Once Minhyuk hung up, he threw the phone on the couch, and sat beside the panicky Jooheon, massaging his temples. “Joo... who are you friends with?”

 

“What?”

 

“I mean, how did Wonho get involved with them? Does he always get into trouble?”

 

“Rarely. He was always a good kid.”

 

“Well,” Minhyuk’s voice was soft, but it sounded like he was genuinely concerned. “I don’t know how he got into this mess with this criminal, but the outcome won’t be good.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“This I.M guy... he’s insane. He tortured a man nearly to death in a bank. And the whole time, he was laughing. If Wonho’s gotten himself in trouble with him, then I can’t guarantee that he’ll be okay when we find him.”

 

Jooheon stayed quiet. What did he mean? Was he saying that Wonho might be dead when they find him? Just because he’s in something with him doesn’t mean he’ll be harmed, right? It could mean they’re doing something... but either way, if this man was wanted, and Wonho was doing deals with him, that’d be some bad news.

 

“The police is going to send some of his officers here later on, so you and I can provide them with more details on what happened. Okay?”

 

Jooheon nodded glumly, and shifted closer to Minhyuk, resting his head on the couch’s arm rest.

 

After a while of complete silence, Minhyuk got up and stepped into his kitchen. Joo almost forgot he lived in this apartment; one he bought for him and his girl when they were planning on getting engaged. When things crumbled, he swore that he would move out. But, Minhyuk was still here, sporting a happy smile, although everything that had happened to him and her was anything but happy.

 

He came back with a sandwich and a glass of apple juice. “This is for you.” Minhyuk gently placed the plate in front of Jooheon, and smiled. “I’m pretty sure you’re not going to eat, as that’s how you get when you’re worried about something, but I figured I’d make you something anyway.”

 

Jooheon blinked, but gave him a small “Thanks.” Minhyuk had been his roommate for a while during his high school and college years. From stories he learned that when Min was 16, he had to live on his own, as his parents forced him to become independent. By himself he had found a place to live temporarily, and was always moving place to place until he was about 19. Then, he found Jooheon’s ad for a roommate on campus, and decided to call him up. They’ve been good friends ever since.

 

Jooheon was pretty much a handful since birth, but Wonho and Minhyuk took good care of him. He didn’t have much luck with his parents when he was younger, so he’d been on his own for a while before he was able to get a stable job and save some money.

 

He always, no matter what, put most of his time aside to help Joo with anything. Homework, a difficult project... school and work.

 

And here he was, a few years after he’d moved out, back where he was back underneath his elder’s care. The small grin Minhyuk had while handing Joo a blanket so he can attempt to sleep told him that his friend wasn’t upset. The younger was disappointed in himself that he resorted to this, but he couldn’t have stayed put at his house. He’d be trying to find Wonho himself despite the warning and how dangerous it might be. If it weren’t for Min, he’d probably be dead right now.

 

As Minhyuk left Joo alone on the couch to try and get some rest, his mind wandered off into a world of worry. Would Wonho be okay? Truly? He was reckless at times, especially if he was mad. Oh god, he hoped he’d be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALSO SHOUTOUT TO @WHYAREALLUSERNAMESTAKEN  
> MY NUMBER ONE FAN WHO HAD COMMENTED ON PRACTICALLY EVERY CHAPTER AND HAS STUCK THROUGH IT WITH ME
> 
> THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another one
> 
> song of the chapter: sucker- jonas brothers

Days passed before Kihyun took notice of where he was. The past few hours had been hard on him, as he had to adjust to the sharp pain on the side of his head that was affecting his vision. Whatever had happened to cause this wasn’t clear in Kihyun’s mind, but the pain was almost debilitating.

 

The room around him was familiar in a way, but he couldn’t put his finger on how he remembered it. Maybe it was the smell of faint cologne; one that he recognized almost immediately. Or maybe it was the squeaky bed set, hurling out a screech each time he shifted in his half-asleep state. Perhaps it could’ve been the fact that the room was his old one. The one he shared with Changkyun. When they were together.

 

Kihyun held his breath. He was in their old apartment. From a previous resident point of view, it was a good home. Modern, nice finishes, good price and area... but for Kihyun, it held nightmares and old memories he’d been desperately trying to forget.

 

He sat up slowly, the sudden shift with his body causing the pain to escalate tenfold. Silently, he bit his cheek, forcing himself to keep quiet. Who knew were Changkyun would be? He couldn’t alarm him that he was awake. His mind wouldn’t let him.

 

Carefully he stood on his feet, and maintained his stance as he waited for the pain to ease off. He reached to examine the wound, only to find bandages that had been replaced recently. No blood had leaked out into the fabric, which was a good thing.

 

His exhausted feet slapped on the wood floors as he brushed down his bedhead lazily with his fingers. Breaking up a knot in his hair, he was met with a note hanging on the door to the bathroom.

 

_There’s a first aid kit below the sink. If you need anything, there’s things in there to help you. Painkillers, bandages, gauze... Take what you need._

_-I.M_

 

Kihyun ripped the note off of it’s place and shredded it to pieces. Boy, could he care less about himself or anything Changkyun sets out? No. Right now, his main objective was to figure out what the hell happened and how he ended back here.

 

As soon as those words toppled out from his mind, a bloodcurdling scream broke out from next door. Kihyun froze. The scream belonged to a male, and it sounded like they were being tortured. The yell itself was hoarse and unsteady, but loud and he could guarantee that everyone on the floor could hear it.

 

Only, nothing happened. He couldn’t hear the rushed footsteps of residents running down the hall, trying to see what was going on. Alas, that’s what they had done for Kihyun and Changkyun when they fought.

 

But there was no signs of movement outside of those walls. Just another choked shout for help as the sun rose, marking another day in hell.

 

—

 

An hour flew by and Kihyun was still hunched up against the door, biting his nails, lost in thought. He had been thinking over his decision whether to run or not, and whether to help the man or not. Though there was no way to tell, Kihyun had a gut feeling that Changkyun was the cause of that man’s pain. His methods are all the same; he desired to inflict pain on people.

 

Really, what could he do about it? Every time Ki stood, he felt dizzy and lightheaded. He was pretty sure his head was fucked at the moment, so that alone ruined his plans of fighting back. How could he possibly assist the man? The mystery man; the one who’s tied up and was suffering through Changkyun’s wrath.

 

There was no logical way he could get away with something like that. He could escape and save himself, but that wasn’t his style.

 

After another few moments of tossing ideas around, Kihyun ultimately came up with a risky decision.

 

To help whoever he could escape.

 

Even if it means he’ll have to stay with Changkyun.

 

~~~~

 

The brunette cursed at himself and what he was going to do. Leaning heavily on the front door of his haunting apartment, he weakly propped himself on the wall next to the entrance, opening the door slightly to sneak out. He carefully hobbled through the door, providing his shoe to keep the door ajar as he went to investigate.

 

Paying close attention to the noises that engulfed the space around him, he took small steps, making sure he made little sound as he worked his way to his next door neighbor.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Choi lived next door, or that’s what Kihyun thought. They could’ve moved since he left the place, because he knew that the yelling wasn’t from Mr, Choi. They were an elderly couple, but they were always kind towards the young couple. Kihyun was never sure if they saw them as roommates or as an actual couple, but their attitude with them was always nice.

 

The area surrounding the white door of the Choi’s was stained with dirt and unknown substances. Because Mrs. Choi was always cleaning whenever they ran into each other, he was positive that they had moved away. It was possible that they moved in with their daughter a few towns over.

 

As soon as Kihyun was an arm’s length away from the door, he paused. What now? Who could guarantee that the door would open?

 

His stomach churned with a new wave of nerves and panic. Beneath him, his knees grew wobbly, but he forced himself to stay up, throwing himself to the support of the hallway wall.

 

Judging the situation purely on how it was going, Kihyun couldn’t be on his feet for too much longer. But he was beyond determined to get into the room.

 

Without thinking further into it, Kihyun charged the closed door, slamming himself into it, feeling it open immediately on contact. He fell fast, but he was able to brace his fall. With a small grunt, he recovered and scrambled onto his feet again.

 

Once he regained his balance, he was met with a terrifying view.

 

Wonho tied up into a wooden chair, his skin raw and bruised around the restraints. His face was covered in bruises and blood, along with his arms. Half of his shirt remained fit on him, as the rest had seemed to be ripped off. The rags that remained were dyed crimson red, due to a wound on his shoulder. His stomach was littered with fresh burns, burns ranging from light to fiery red.

 

In front of his very wounded friend was none other than Changkyun, who was grinning psychotically at his prey.

 

“You’ll give up soon, I promise.” Changkyun growled before pressing a red hot fire iron back onto the bartender’s skin.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think i should mention that right now im dealing with trying to finish a school project  
> it’s due in three weeks and determines if i pass high school or not  
> i still havent done a lot for most of it and i still dont have the supplies i need for it  
> so i’m a little stressed out right now  
> but i’ve been writing things to add onto this story
> 
> ITS ENDING. soon. i’m still writing stuff for it.
> 
> this is my like fourth attempt at writing a chapter for this so pls be gentle if it sucks
> 
> song of the chapter: Late Thoughts- Hanx

“Can I have the case file on I.M?”

 

As a detective, when something about a case doesn’t settle well in their gut, they get right down to work. It was 3 in the morning, and most officers were arriving to begin another day of sorting files, and researching information on certain cases. However, Hyunwoo had been there all night, sifting through useless records and documents that had nothing to do with his perplexing case.

 

Detective Son was there earlier than usual, desperate to curl his hands around that empty folder, and try to figure out where they went wrong. He had been assigned on this case despite being fairly new, and the fact that the trail had gone cold fairly early into it. They had nothing against this man; all they had was surveillance video of a man with a completely covered face torturing a guard. Most cameras didn’t even catch a glance of the suspect, and he left nothing but an unregistered gun and hostages in his trail.

 

Something wasn’t quite adding up. The motives of the person was pretty much unknown along with his identity. There was no way they could solve it if they didn’t gather up any more information.

 

“You’re still here?”

 

His superior Director Kang, leaned over his short cubicle wall, peering into the mess that Hyunwoo had created overnight. Notes were strewn everywhere, with red pen crossing out everything he had written, as it made no sense to him.

 

Hyunwoo didn’t take his eyes off of the files he was given, and hummed a short response, too busy reading over the case details and looking at photos of the scene.

 

“You haven’t found anything else out, have you?” He asked, as he snatched a balled up piece of lined paper and unraveled it. “Hmm. This is an interesting thought.” Kang’s growly voice normally bothered him, but he was concentrated so hard on rereading the files that he barely cared to react to it.

 

“Hyunwoo.” His boss calling him by his first name was very unusual. That caused him to look up, though he did it reluctantly. Kang’s face still had small lines of shaving cream on it, and his tie was still undone. Had he slept either? “Go home.”

 

“Boss, I can’t. I was given this case to solve it, yet I can’t find any leads on it.”

 

“That’s how it normally is with these. Give it some time. You just got it a few months ago, there’s still a ton of time to spend on solving it.” The boss threw the scrap paper he had in his hand onto another officer’s desk, and began to wrap his tie around his neck. While he neatly knotted his tie, he grumbled. “You’ve been here all night. We don’t need you running without sleep, especially not in these times. Please just get a few hours, and come back in later.”

 

Hyunwoo was surprised. Normally Kang wouldn’t care if a detective stayed until the early morning hours, as he considers that being super productive and actually, he encourages it. However, this was the third day he had stayed behind, and had pulled the all nighter. The detective himself hated showing how exhausted he was, but it was becoming evident that he needed some rest. The bags under his eyes were becoming more highlighted and dark, and he had a pounding migraine that was preventing him from functioning completely.

 

“If you don’t leave now, I’ll make you stay home longer.” Kang said coldly, adjusting his tie, and grabbing the papers again. “I’ll return the files for you.”

 

Without having another choice, Hyunwoo unwillingly drove himself home.

 

He dragged himself around his empty house, wishing that he had picked up his dog on the way back. It was too quiet, and he despised it with a burning passion.

 

He lazily changed, throwing on a two sizes too big sweatshirt and some sweatpants before shuffling slowly to bed. His A/C unit was buzzing softly, accompanied by the whoosh of his small fan. All of it was sleep inducing, and as he reached the edge of his bed, he fell into it, falling asleep almost immediately.

 

~~~~

 

If someone could throw their body out of the window, Hyunwoo would have done it a long time ago. Due to the major amount of stress he put on himself, and the strong desire he had burning in his stomach prevented him from sleeping in further.

 

Or so he thought. As he stirred, he snapped out of his dreaded sleepy state to pick up his phone, which was vibrating violently upon his wooden nightstand.

 

Cursing as he almost dropped the phone, he answered rather harshly. “Hello?”

 

“Detective Son, are you able to head to the station? We have some information you might want to hear about.”

 

Hyunwoo answered with a groggy “I’ll be right there,” and hung up. He threw himself backwards into his pillow, debating if he really should be back in the station after only three hours of sleep.

 

After a few minutes, he dragged himself out the door with a messy hairstyle and a cup of coffee. His button up was undone, and his pants hadn’t looked less lively since he got in that car wreck a year ago. Everything about him read “SLEEP DEPRIVED”, however he could care less. If this was about the case he was working on, it would be totally worth it. When he got into his car, he sped off, hurtling towards the station at high- but safe speeds.

 

He arrived at the station moments later, pulling up and frantically fixing his appearance before he strode inside.

 

Already, two of his officers were standing by the doors, waiting for him so they could debrief him on the situation.

 

“Sir, we have a witness that claims he saw I.M.” Officer Kim said, speaking quickly to grab Hyunwoo’s wavering attention.

 

Hyunwoo nearly spilled his coffee over himself hearing that news. “What? Seriously?”

 

The officer beside him nodded. The detective swore he hadn’t seen him before, but he’s been out of the loop on new hires. “He’s waiting in the meeting room for you.”

 

“Okay, thank you.” He spoke calmly, though inside he was a different story. If this was a solid lead, he could finally solve this case.

 

Every case Hyunwoo’s been given has been solved within the month. He’s good at seeing things others don’t, and putting clues together in a different light. But this case had been so difficult that it was quite literally driving him insane.

 

He rushed himself over to the other side of the building, grasping the handle to the door leading into the meeting room. Taking in a deep breath, and sipping a bit of his super strong coffee, he stepped in.

 

In the room sat two men, one significantly in rougher shape than the other. He seemed like he was very distraught, while the other was put together and quite expressionless.

 

“Hello, I’m Detective Son. Nice to meet you both.”

 

“Hello. I’m Lee Minhyuk, and this is Lee Jooheon.” The stoic one said, sharing a small smile with the detective.

 

The man that sat beside him glanced up at Hyunwoo, and blinked, before looking away. “I’m supposed to tell you what I saw, right?”

 

“Precisely.”

 

Bit by bit, the shaken man relived last night, describing everything from what him and his friend spoke about, to the strange man who said he was being stalked by the criminal. The whole time, Hyunwoo was scribbling down notes, writing every word the boy said, making sure to not leave out anything.

 

“That’s all I know. After Wonho told me to get help, I ran to Minhyuk’s.”

 

While Jooheon talked, Hyunwoo couldn’t help but think he recognized the kid. Though he doesn’t know where he could’ve possibly met him, they’re a few years away in age.

 

“Detective, are you alright?”

 

Hyunwoo blinked. “I’m alright.” He stood abruptly, and walked to the door. “Thank you for the information. It’ll definitely help catch this man.”

 

“Please get him soon. He has my friend...” Jooheon trailed off.

 

“I’m going to try my best.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m close to finishing this so just lemme keep going  
> i wanna update this as soon as i can so you don’t wait that much and i can see if i can finish this story before i have to deal with my school issue
> 
> ok?
> 
> mkay.
> 
> song of the chapter: GORILLA- Pentagon

Standing at the doorway of Orion, peering inside, Hyunwoo sighed deeply. There wasn’t much out of the ordinary, other than a broken glass, a tipped over table, and two blotches of blood on the drab carpet.

 

This was all he had to work with?

 

Hyunwoo buried his hands in his hair out of frustration, exhaling loudly.

 

He watched from afar as his officers went to work surveying the crime scene, taking photos, and collecting the evidence that they could. Swabbing the carpet, gathering the shattered pieces of a cup, and taking a sample of hair from the table where the blood began.

 

“I’m glad you showed up.” Officer Woo said, adjusting her cap on her head. Her camera hung loose around her neck, and her hand was gripped around a ziploc bag filled with the glass. “I was thinking you weren’t going to come.”

 

“I had to gather some information from a witness that saw what happened before this. That’s why I was late.”

 

“Fair enough.”

 

“Is this all we got? Or is there also some evidence of his break in?”

 

“There’s a footprint or two in the kitchen, and we got that handled. Other than that, this is it.”

 

“How is this supposed to help?”

 

She shrugged. “It’s more than we had at the bank. Something tells me he didn’t plan this out, as he didn’t clean anything up after himself and seems very clumsy. This is a nightmare compared to the last scene.”

 

Hyunwoo hadn’t thought of that. They really had found nothing at the bank; the evidence they had here was gold compared to that. They’ll be able to identify the blood, and hair samples back at the station. That should help them figure out who’s is who’s and from there, they could figure out a link between them.

 

“That’s a good point. Something tells me this had something to do with a personal affair.” Hyunwoo added to her comment.

 

“It almost seems like this was done by a different person. Are we sure that the man that gave you the information is reliable?”

 

Hyunwoo clearly didn’t know how to answer that question. Truthfully, he wholeheartedly believed Jooheon was telling him facts, but he could never be too sure. “He didn’t seem like he was lying. Hell, he was a mess when I walked into the room.”

 

“Hmm.” Officer Woo, sounding perplexed, clapped Hyunwoo on the shoulder, and headed outside to their truck. “Let’s hope he’s right about this.”

 

~~~~

 

It took Hyunwoo four days to pull the pieces together. When the results of the blood came back, he was able to trace the man’s history to an old police report that was never acted upon; a report about a stalker. Yoo Kihyun, a young man with no record, and had a degree in photography. Shin Hoseok owned a bar named Orion. Both of the men pretty much aligned with Jooheon’s information, therefore he was being truthful.

 

Now that he had this information, he needed to find where he could be hiding with the two of them. I.M’s name was Im Changkyun, and a year ago, he purchased a lush apartment. Apparently it’s where he still lived. They could start there, couldn’t they? To see if they could find more information.

 

When they arrived, everything was still and quiet. It was quite a big apartment complex, though after looking it up, the wing was mostly empty.

 

Guns up, the three took turns clearing hallways, and climbing up flights of stairs, making sure that no one was around to surprise them. As far as they were concerned, I.M was extremely dangerous and crafty. They couldn’t let their guard down.

 

Once they reached the floor where the apartment in question was, a heavy feeling of anxiety washed over the three of them. They were about to infiltrate a crazy man’s apartment blindly, without knowing what they’d be getting into. Who knew if he had traps laid around his home? They couldn’t be sure about him, as they knew nothing about him. Cautiously, Officer Choi stepped up towards the entrance of apartment 96, and knocked loudly.

 

“This is the police!” He announced, as it’s required to shout who they were before entering a citizen’s home. “Open up!”

 

After about thirty seconds of silence, Hyunwoo pulled Choi aside, and kicked in the door without a struggle. The wood splintered inward, and collapsed, revealing a fairly clean kitchen.

 

Hyunwoo’s gun was glued to his hands as he zoomed through the small apartment. His two officers accompanied him as they cleared room after room, soon concluding that even if it was used recently, it was empty.

 

“Alright. Call in the others; we need to sweep this apartment right down to the floorboards.” The detective ordered. Woo fumbled with her phone, and stepped aside into a room to notify their crime scene crew.

 

Hyunwoo combed through the bedrooms first, noticing that one was significantly more messy than the others; the master bed. It looked as if someone had been in it recently, as recent as a few hours before their arrival.

 

Strange.

 

A few droplets of blood faintly stained the pillowcase, and in the en suite bathroom, bloody bandages were balled up and thrown away.

 

“Detective Son.”

 

Officer Woo was calling him from another room. Did she find something?

 

Hyunwoo hummed quietly as he walked towards the powder room right off the loft, poking his head in. “Mhm?”

 

“I found this.” In her latex coated hand was a note, a note that was scribbled on by none other than the man they were hunting. He did have a clue of who it could’ve been addressed to, but everything about this case and this man’s motives were up in the air. Two people formed in Hyunwoo’s mind when he thought harder about it, but he couldn’t distinguish who’s who in this story.

 

The crime scene crew and photographers stormed in about a half an hour later, expressing their confusion as they had practically nothing to take photos of.

 

As they raked the place again, scooping the evidence into their nifty plastic storage bags, Hyunwoo stood outside, letting them work. Biting his nail furiously, he nibbled as he began forming a possible plan for what the man has planned next.

 

“You seem frustrated.” A friend of his on the crew, Ryu, said in a joking tone.

 

“I am. I mean, how am I supposed to solve this case when I can’t seem to ever gather enough evidence to plan out where he might go next?” Hyunwoo let out a frustrated grunt, as he fixed his hair so it wouldn’t fall in his face. “This has to be one of the hardest cases I’ve had the privilege of working on.”

 

“If it takes a little longer than usual for you to solve a case, it’s okay.”

 

“I know. But I’ve built my reputation at the station by being able to solve cold cases within days of receiving them. How does this make me look?”

 

“It makes you look human. Many people don’t think you are one, since you solved extremely difficult cases that have little or no evidence about it and have been able to charge someone by the end of the third day. It just proves that you need some time to think about it.” He said, punching Hyunwoo’s bicep playfully. “You’re young, anyway. Your reputation will go up and go down as you’re here; it happens all the time. Don’t worry about that right now.”

 

Ryu was right. He needed to put his full focus on just trying to find the suspect, and bring them to justice, rather than be worked up about when he can solve this the soonest.

 

“Alright. I’m gonna go around and question the neighbors to see if they know anything.” Hyunwoo stated, pushing off of the wall he was leaning on, heading towards the door right across from them.

 

Ryu retreated back into the suspect’s apartment after giving the detective a nod of understanding.

 

He knocked on each door gingerly, being careful to not disturb anyone that might be inside. As he went down the line, only a few people opened their doors, and they answered his questions with about the same responses.

 

“Changkyun and Kihyun moved in together about a year ago, and were very pleasant neighbors. Though it’s unusual for them to see a gay couple around this area, they weren’t that public about it and were very polite. They’d help some of the older residents with some housework, cook things for whenever they heard someone was sick... nice neighbors.”

 

It puzzled them when they learned that their relationship ended a while ago. “Really?”

 

“According to the information I have, which unfortunately isn’t a lot, he began to stalk Kihyun after what I assumed was a breakup.”

 

“Aw. I’m sorry. I didn’t think Changkyun was that kind of person. I don’t see him around these parts as of late, but I know he still occupies his apartment.” The neighbor seemed genuinely worried about the situation at hand. “He’s been helping out the Choi’s, that’s what I’ve heard.”

 

“Which apartment is theirs?”

 

“The second to last one on his row. They have vacancies on either sides of them, and they’re an elderly couple. Very kind people.”

 

“Okay, thank you, ma’am. Have a nice day.” Hyunwoo twirled his pen within his fingers, and clicked it shut before clipping it back onto the fabric of his pocket.

 

She wished him a safe investigation, and shut the door behind him.

 

Hyunwoo didn’t waste any time to see if the Choi’s were home. He sped over to their apartment, which was not too far from Changkyun’s; about four doors down. He checked the surrounding apartments, and to no avail.

 

When he reached the Choi’s house, he knocked firmly, now that he knew they were elderly and possibly wouldn’t hear him.

 

“Hello?”

 

No response from inside.

 

Knock again. Nothing.

 

Gently, he jiggled the door handle, thinking it wouldn’t open. It was worth a shot.

 

To his surprise; it was open.

 

Hyunwoo was immediately greeted by their thrashed apartment. Seeing this, he took his pistol out of his holster, and called for his officers for back-up.

 

Scrambling over, they spot what Hyunwoo was worried about, and signal that they’ve got my back.

 

Hyunwoo mustered enough courage to step in first. “Hello? This is the police.” His voice rang through the enclosed family room.

 

They carefully danced their way through the broken chairs and couch, desperately trying to avoid clobbering the furniture with their military grade boots.

 

The room had an odor Hyunwoo was oddly familiar with. Blood. Everywhere they walked, it got stronger.

 

“What is that smell?” Officer Choi asked, pinching his nose shut.

 

“Blood.” Hyunwoo breathed. “And something burnt. Possibly burnt flesh.”

 

“Burnt flesh?!”

 

Hyunwoo hushed him up, and silently peeked into the other rooms to make sure they were alone.

 

There was a room that branched off from the family room directly, something like an office, and the floor was stained with blood.

 

There were chair indents in the ground, as if someone had something placed in here recently, though the tossing looked like it had been done weeks ago, as dust collected on the top of the snapped furniture. The piece of furniture wasn’t there anymore, so Hyunwoo could presume that someone was in fact in here recently, and they were using this room for something cruel.

 

“Okay, this has a lot more evidence than his own apartment. Was this something he did?”

 

He spotted a paper or something on the ground next to the broken desk. Hyunwoo bent down and examined it, before shaking his head. “This was him.” He declared, as he showed the picture he found to the two of them. It was a picture of Changkyun accompanied by Kihyun. He assumed this was when they were still together.

 

Sighing deeply, Hyunwoo stood. “Well, I hope you guys didn’t have plans because we’ll be here a while.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all i gotta say is:
> 
> y e e t
> 
> song of the chapter: Faking It- Sasha Sloan

Changkyun’s rage fueled him as he drove away from the apartments. Wonho was hurled into the back, still bound up, too weak to fight back. Kihyun had no choice but to help him into the van he had, because if he didn’t, Changkyun would’ve beat him, too.

 

Often, Changkyun said he was deeply in love with him. Even now, as the two sit in the front seats, watching the road aimlessly, he started trying to convince Kihyun that he was doing the right thing.

 

“This is what needs to happen so you stay safe. You don’t look like you understand, but I do.” Changkyun remarked, as he reached to fiddle with the radio. Music was playing quietly, but Kihyun’s ears refused to hear it as he was overwhelmed.

 

“You don’t need to do this. I told you I can protect myself.”

 

“No, you clearly can’t. Look what happened to you while you were with him.” He pointed out the rag that was wrapped around Kihyun’s head.

 

Kihyun pressed his hand on the bandage. “This didn’t happen because of him. I fell.”

 

“It happened while you were at his cursed bar. Trust me, you don’t understand. You can’t protect yourself from someone like him, you’re too scrawny.”

 

That was last part was very true. “I don’t care. I don’t need someone to try and ‘look out fir me’ like this. He did nothing wrong. He doesn’t deserve all the pain you’re causing him.”

 

“Yes he does. He poisoned you with his drinks and persuaded you to go back to spend your money. That’s an abuse. He was abusing you mentally.”

 

“He was not. You’re being ridiculous, Changkyun. He’s just doing his job. Besides, I wanted to drink. Not because he told me to give him money; it’s because I wanted to stop thinking about you.” Kihyun blurted out. “You need to get out of my life. I can’t physically take this anymore.”

 

Changkyun bit his lip, too occupied with his thoughts for a moment to respond. “He made you say that. You need me.”

 

Kihyun rarely ever got mad, but everything that was taking place was something he didn’t want to happen. Despite how angry he was, he bit his cheek to avoid saying anything he would lash out on.

 

“See? You can’t come up with anything because that bastard’s brainwashed you. You belong here with me, and he deserves to be punished for his actions.

 

“His eyes read ‘devil’. He shouldn’t be allowed to live.”

 

His ears went from pink to dark red. Anger boiling through him, he snapped. “Changkyun, I hate you so much. You’re a horrible person. I don’t know how you can possibly live with yourself after doing that to my friend. Can’t you get it through your thick ass skull that not everyone wants to harm me? Besides, Wonho doesn’t even know me well enough to have anything against me. There’s no way he’d do anything. But here you are, torturing the fuck out of someone innocent just because you jumped to a conclusion that you won’t ever think is not correct! Just stop it! I shouldn’t be the person your world revolves around! This is wrong. This should’ve stopped with Hyungwon! I told you I didn’t want you anywhere near me! You said you would listen, right? Why didn’t you listen to me?“

 

“Because you’re being hysterical.” Changkyun said, laughing. “I always knew you were dramatic... but not this dramatic.”

 

“I’m not being dramatic. I’m right, you’re fucking insane. I don’t know how I planned to marry you anymore. You’re so fucking horrible.”

 

Changkyun grew silent. Normally during their fights, when he acted quiet, he was angry. Usually it lead to some physical things, but at this point he didn’t care.

 

As they hurtled down the road surrounded by darkness, Kihyun wished that he could end everything.

 

~~~~

 

“That’s all we got.”

 

The three of them— Choi, Woo, and Detective Son stood in a tight circle, perplexed at the pictures of the crime scene.

 

“That’s all we got? How?”

 

Choi shrugged. “Even if the crime scene was messy, he had really nothing about where he could be now. We found the tire tracks that belong to his van, but our other officers have stopped each car that appears like that damned van and they’ve had no luck.”

 

Hyunwoo bit his lip. “So we gathered this much evidence at the scene, yet we can’t do anything with it?”

 

Woo nodded glumly. “Yep.”

 

“God, why couldn’t we have acted on this case earlier?” Hyunwoo said out loud, waving the folder with the info on the stalker report. “If we did, then we would’ve caught this guy way before he acted out.”

 

“I wonder why we didn’t actually do anything with it. If it’s a stalker case, we’d at least look into it, right?” Woo asked.

 

Hyunwoo blinked. Then, an idea suddenly came to him.

 

He sped over to his computer, and quickly entered in password after password to access a police database. His fingers typing as fast as lightning, he pulled up who was given the case, and who supposedly ‘took care’ of it.

 

“Anyone recognize the name Oh Hyojun?” Hyunwoo projected his voice so it could be heard among the rest of the cops who were sharing the room with his squad.

 

No one dared to speak, until a person’s hand slowly raised up. “I do.”

 

“Great. What did he work at the station as?”

 

“He was an officer. Not too high ranked and very young. He left working here months ago.”

 

“Thank you.” Hyunwoo called out, before returning to his furious typing.

 

He then entered the name into their database, and something interesting came up. “Got it.”

 

Just as Hyunwoo’s hunch thought. They’d never wave off a stalker case; not for no reason. The man was put in charge of the case, and he closed it within a few days. However, he never recorded if he ever found evidence against the report in the first place; therefore, there wasn’t a reason written down.

 

So that gave Hyunwoo something to work with.

 

Hyunwoo stood, grabbing his jacket off his seat, and snatching the squad car’s keys off the rack. “Let’s go.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished it! This isn’t the last chapter, but I finished this story.
> 
> So all I need to do is post the last two chapters or so.
> 
> Have fun with this!
> 
> Song of the chapter: Alien- Pentagon

Resisting wasn’t something Kihyun could muster at the time. He could talk like he was going to, but he was so tired that he couldn’t physically live up to it.

 

Once they reached their destination, Kihyun’s stomach dropped. He didn’t recognize the place at all. Oil stains covered the cement floor, and a fine layer of dust clung onto the metal work desk. They were enclosed into an old garage, sealed shut by a creaky, rusty steel door.

 

Changkyun climbed out of the driver’s seat, and rounded the front of the van to open Kihyun’s door. “Get out.”

 

“No.”

 

“Kihyun. I don’t have time for this.”

 

“Sure you do. I’m not getting out of your shitty van.”

 

“If you don’t, I’m just going to drag you out.”

 

“Don’t touch me. I’ll make you regret it.” He couldn’t possibly do anything to make that true, but he could see if that would work on him.

 

“Please. You’re exhausted.” Changkyun said with a chuckle. “Remember,” he came closer to Kihyun, and began to whisper into his ear. “I can read you like a fucking book.”

 

Kihyun shoved him away, and reluctantly slid out of his seat. “What do you want, you asshole?”

 

“Easy there with the language, Ki. There’s no need to be mad.”

 

“I hate you. Of course there’s reasons for me to be fucking mad. You can’t brush it off like I’m being dramatic. You’re torturing not only me, but my friend and you hurt Hyungwon as well. You’re a terrible excuse for a human being.” Kihyun snapped.

 

Changkyun sneered, before gripping Kihyun’s wrist tightly, and tugged him aggressively towards the back of the van. “Fine, if you don’t want to cooperate, babe, then I’ll make you.”

 

“Stop it.” Kihyun pleaded, as Changkyun’s nails angrily dug into his skin, breaking it almost immediately. “That hurts.”

 

“I’m sorry, but you are being stubborn.” Changkyun said in a low voice, before unlocking the back of the van with the key.

 

Wonho was curled up inside, and he didn’t even react when light began to flood the back cabin at an alarming rate.

 

“Get in.”

 

Kihyun blinked. “What?”

 

“Get in the back.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I have some affairs I need to tend to, and I don’t need you running off.”

 

“But-“

 

Without hesitation, Changkyun lifted Kihyun up slightly, and threw him inside.

 

“Hey, wait! Changkyun what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

 

“I’m doing what’s best for you. Now shut up.”

 

“No. You can’t leave both of us here like this. Where are you even going?”

 

“Relax, no one’s gonna come get him. You’ll be fine in here since you’re his friend, right?”

 

“He’s really weak. If we don’t do something-“

 

He was cut off by Changkyun closing the door, locking it swiftly behind him. “I’ll be back soon, Kihyunie!” He called out, before completely disappearing into a building far down the block.

 

“Kihyun?”

 

Wonho’s voice was hoarse and small, as he tried to adjust himself to look at him.

 

“No, no. Don’t try and move; please save your strength.” Kihyun’s voice was already shaky as he spoke to the gravely wounded bartender.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Kihyun blinked. “Don’t ask me that while you’re there, still bleeding.”

 

Wonho sighed. “Sorry, it’s a habit.”

 

“I’m so sorry, Wonho. I didn’t want this to happen. I- I tried so hard to not let it happen, but I’m just so useless.”

 

“You couldn’t control the situation. It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” He spoke slowly as if he was having trouble breathing.

 

“I befriended you. It is my fault. He’s doing this because he thinks everyone is out to hurt me and is going to abuse me. It’s because of me that you’re hurt like this.”

 

“Even in situations like this... you’re going to befriend someone. It’s going to happen regardless. What Changkyun decided to do is not your fault. He’s just a psycho maniac.”

 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

 

“It’s okay.”

 

Was it really?

 

Kihyun found an old, clean-ish rag and tried to pat down Wonho’s bullet wound as gently as he could, though Wonho insisted for him to put pressure on it. He was so pale, and his breathing seemed to be labored... he was in horrible shape. Kihyun wasn’t sure how much longer Wonho could fight off everything.

 

“I’m going to get you out of here, okay? I promise.”

 

~~~~

 

Hyunwoo was heading towards Hyojun’s last known address when he spotted a dark green van driving speedily down the road just ahead of them. Normally, this wasn’t strange. However, since they were on a bumpy and cracked road that only lead them to the ghost town further down, he grew suspicious of it.

 

Determined not to let the person see that they’re being followed, they tucked and turned to avoid contact, making sure to stalk them like prey but they strayed further away so they couldn’t notice.

 

A few minutes of dangerous swerving later, they pulled up to an abandoned car body shop, and hopped out of the car, knowing that the van had somehow veered off into their garages. Together, they moved in one formation, clearing garage after garage, plugging their noses to steer away from the strong stench of exhaust.

 

 “All of this has been used recently. If this still smells as strongly as it does, then there has been business circulating through here.” Choi informed his coworkers, covering his nose with the collar of his now wrinkled button up.

 

“Strange. I could’ve sworn no one comes around here. I’m sure that’s true, but I didn’t put illegal transactions into the equation.” Hyunwoo mumbled to himself, though he was sure Woo and Choi overhead him.

 

“We’ll have to sweep the area after we find who we’re here for.” Woo answered, with Choi and Hyunwoo nodding in understanding.

 

Opening ten more old garages, they reach the last one located at the end of the right side.

 

Hyunwoo glanced at his subordinates, making sure that they were ready before he pulled the door open.

They signaled that they were prepared, and Hyunwoo tugged the door open, and both entered the room, frantically glancing around, making sure they were alone. The van stood still in the center of the fairly large cement room, parked next to the tire jack. No one looked to be in the driver’s seat, and as they peered inside, the front seats were completely spotless.

 

“Maybe they abandoned it here.”

 

As they rummaged through the work desk, the banging started.

 

A loud boom sounded from the back of the van, in which sent all three officers back onto their feet, lashing out their pistols in pure panic. They hadn’t checked the back compartment.

 

Hyunwoo lead the two to the back, pressing down on the lock, hoping to unlock the doors. However, there was no luck, as it was jammed.

 

“Help me out here, it’s jammed.” Hyunwoo ordered, grunting as he tried to force the door open.

 

Inside, he could hear someone’s body hit the door, as if they were trying to escape, too. THis only made Hyunwoo more desperate.

 

In his mind, he saw the worried boy back at the meeting room, tears welling up in his eyes, him begging for Hyunwoo to bring his friend back safe and sound. Right now, Changkyun was out of his mind. He just needed to make sure that whoever was in the back of the damn truck was okay.

 

“Hold on, Hyunwoo.” Woo said calmly. Hyunwoo glared at her, and she took a cautionary step back. “We don’t know what’s in there.”

 

“Remember that stain on the carpet of that apartment we went to? That was from someone that Changkyun had as a hostage. Shin Hoseok. He owns Orion. Now, since we know he took off from that apartment and headed somewhere else, there is a high chance that inside of here is Mr. Shin.” Hyunwoo explained. “Are you going to help me find that out or not?”

 

Both of his subordinates, though hesitant, looked around for something that could help break the already jammed lock.

 

Luckily for them, there were a bunch of rusty tools strewn around the place, so they had a great variety of choices.

 

After failing with a screwdriver, wrenches, and a pair of pliers, they were able to shatter the lock with a hammer.

 

The doors flew open, and light seeped into the back of the windowless compartment, revealing two males a little younger than Hyunwoo. One was gravely injured with burns all over his exposed arms and stomach, and had a bullet wound straight through his shoulder. The other had a bandage wrapped tightly around his head,accompanied by bruises on his face and wrists.

 

Hyunwoo sighed, biting his nail at the sight of the two men he had done research on. His theory was correct. The two were being held hostage.

 

“See, I told you.” Hyunwoo said to Woo. Then, he turned his attention to Yoo Kihyun, who seemed to be close to having a panic attack. “You’re Yoo Kihyun, right?”

 

“Who are you? What do you want?!” Kihyun asked, his voice cracking and his breathing rushed.

 

“Shh, shh, it’s okay.” Woo joined in, flashing her polished badge so Kihyun could see. “We’re here to help.”

 

Behind him, Hoseok stirred. He muttered something, but it was inaudible to the officers. However, Kihyun happened to hear it.

 

“How do we know that’s not fake? Changkyun’s capable of doing anything.”

 

“I’m Detective Son Hyunwoo. I was contacted by two boys named Lee Minhyuk and Lee Jooheon about the incident that happened in your bar, Orion. Does that sound about right?”

 

The extremely weak boy forced himself to sit upright even if his body couldn’t take it. “J-Jooheon? Is he okay??”

 

Hyunwoo nodded. “He’s alright. He was a mess when he came around.”

 

Hoseok didn’t respond.

 

“Hyunwoo, I’m going to call for some medical assistance.” Woo told him.

 

Kihyun and Hoseok were piled in the van like old sardines that were left in the can. The metal interior was showing through the floor, and Hoseok was perched upon it, some red indentations from where he was lying down printed into his side. Kihyun, although less injured, looked somewhat dehydrated and pale from the wound he was sporting on his head.

 

Both of them needed help urgently. And Hyunwoo had no idea if they’d get here in time.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy!
> 
> song of the chapter: Bomb Bomb- KARD

Hours later, Kihyun sat in the ambulance, his legs hanging out the side of the opened back, swinging as he observed all the commotion commencing around him.

 

Dozens of police cars were huddled around his ambulance, their sirens blaring and flashing red and blue. Hyunwoo and several other officers were bunched up together, speaking about the case at hand.

 

Changkyun’s face shone in the moonlight as he’s tucked into a squad car, a psycho smile plastered on his face. He gave Kihyun a small grin before he disappeared behind the bars drilled into the dividers of the police car. His friend joined him too, though he was practically thrown into the car due to him resisting.

 

Wonho had vanished from his side, as they rushed the man to the hospital. Truth was that some of his ribs were broken, along with his nose, and his wound on his shoulder was showing signs of being infected. With that plus the other scratches and burns piled onto it, they had no other choice but to speed him away from Kihyun’s grasp.

 

Kihyun was relatively stable despite all the bruises that were exposed on his limbs. They were dark and more of a black than a blue, and there was a slight hint of yellow in them. Though they looked bad, nothing was broken. His head wound wasn’t infected, but it needed to be treated in the hospital.

 

As much as they told him that, he refused to go. He needed to speak to Hyunwoo.

 

One of the EMTs scurried towards the large detective, informing him politely of Kihyun’s request. Due to the medication they had injected him with, and with his arm impaled by an IV, he couldn’t be bothered to do it himself.

 

After a short conversation between the two, Kihyun scratched his head as Hyunwoo strode towards him.

 

“You wanted to speak with me?”

 

Kihyun nodded. “I wanted to thank you. For helping Wonho and I. And capturing him.”

 

Hyunwoo looked surprised. “Of course. I’m just doing my job.”

 

“I know. But you helped me so much. He’s been harassing me for so long... I don’t think I could’ve taken it for much longer.” Kihyun admitted, a lump in his throat forming. “I’m just glad it’s over.”

 

“Me too.” Hyunwoo chirped. Silence overcame the two, but then Hyunwoo cleared his throat. “The man Changkyun tortured at the bank... that was my cousin.”

 

Kihyun’s jaw dropped.

 

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t tell anyone.”

 

“I’m so sorry. I-I...”

 

“It’s okay. He’s recovering up well.”

 

This man hadn’t shown a single hint of anger as he put the cuffs on Changkyun. His face was emotionless; but you could sense the relief that was coming off of him.

 

“Anyway, we’ll keep in touch, okay? You need to go to the hospital for that wound.” He said with a small smile, poking at his head where the gash was. “I don’t want it to get any worse.”

 

“O-Okay. Thank you again for not ignoring my case.”

 

Hyunwoo nodded in understanding before shooing me off, making sure I get back into the truck okay and giving a word to the paramedics. They took off after that, with a lost in thought Kihyun strapped into a gurney in the back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I didn’t add an action scene when it came to catching Changkyun and Hyojun but I’m horrible at writing them 🤧  
> Please don’t hate me.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost done
> 
> song of the chapter: HERO- Monsta X

It had been two weeks since Changkyun was charged for multiple offensives. He scored a grand total of about 50 years in jail for torturing a police officer, and attempting to murder two men, on top of kidnapping charges and armed robbery. Plus breaking an entering, owning an unregistered weapon... The list went on. His friend was locked up, too, but Kihyun wasn’t sure on what charges.

 

Kihyun’s head was healing up well, and by now there was still a wound, but it had nearly closed up by now. He was discharged about three days ago, but he’s been travelling back and forth from home to the hospital ever since.

 

Why might he be doing that you might ask?

 

Hyungwon was still in the hospital. He would be discharged at any day now, but considering Kihyun went on the run after he was transported and taken care of, he never had time to visit him.

 

Kihyun slipped inside of Hyungwon’s room again a few minutes before visiting time ended with a small surprise in hand. He bought Hyungwon’s favorite dessert at a local shop, and brought it here for him to eat. Best thing about it? It was all for him.

 

“Kihyun, what are you doing here? Don’t you have work tomorrow?” Hyungwon asked, sitting up in bed, and fumbling with his remote to turn off what he was watching.

 

“No, I told you I’m working from home until this heals up.” Kihyun replied, tapping the side of his head. “What were you watching?”

 

“Nothing in particular. Why are you here though? Won’t they kick you out in a few moments?”

 

“Shut up, will you? Stop asking questions.”

 

“But-“

 

Kihyun revealed the bag he had brought from behind him. “Ta-da.”

 

“It’s a bag. From the store. Gee, you shouldn’t have.” Hyungwon deadpanned.

 

“Here. Just take a look inside before I smack you with it.” Kihyun grumbled, handing him the fabric handles sewn into the tote.

 

He stuck his tongue out at Kihyun to annoy him. Then, he opened the bag.

 

With a squeal, Hyungwon carefully lifted out the small cake from the bag, and chucked the bag back to Kihyun. “YOO KIHYUN, CAN I KISS YOU?”

 

“Gross, no. I’d rather kiss a plunger.” Kihyun scowled.

 

“And I’d rather have someone cool as a friend.” Hyungwon countered. “This is the most perfect cake I’ve seen. Look, it even has my name on it!”

 

“I ordered it so I know what it looks like.”

 

Hyungwon threw the stuffed animal Kihyun had gotten for him from the hospital gift shop. It landed on the floor with a thud, but Kihyun proceeded to pick it up and brush it off as Hyungwon placed the cake on his table with a smile from ear to ear. “I love you.”

 

“Love you too.”

 

Kihyun’s phone buzzed violently against his thigh. He groaned, thinking it was Minhyuk asking for a favor for the thirtieth time.

 

“Hey, Wonnie, I gotta run. That cake is all for you, so enjoy it. Next time, though, we need to eat it together.” Kihyun stated, before giving him a goodbye hug and stepping outside of the room.

 

Wonhoe:

Are you in the hospital right now?

 

Kihyunie:

Yeah, why?

 

Wonhoe:

Come visit me before you have to go.

 

Kihyun, although puzzled, ran up two flights of stairs to reach Wonho’s room in time. By the time he got there, it was a minute past visiting time, but he could care less.

 

Besides, when he opened the door, Jooheon was in there with Wonho, and together they were playing cards.

 

“You got an eight?” Jooheon asked in a funny voice, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Go fish.” Wonho responded with a breathy laugh.

 

Jooheon pouted but plucked another card from the nearly finished deck.

 

To avoid startling the two, Kihyun knocked on the door frame to get their attention.

 

Wonho’s smile grew wider once he laid his eyes on Kihyun. “Kihyunie! I missed you!”

 

“I saw you at lunch.” Kihyun said, approaching his bedside anyway. “What did you want?”

 

“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to see you before you had to go home. They’re gonna let Jooheon stay for another hour, but then I’ll be stuck alone until tomorrow.” Wonho whined.

 

Kihyun frowned. “How old are you again?”

 

“Five.”

 

“That explains a hell of a lot.”

 

“Hey! Listen. I just wanted to say thank you.”

 

Why would he say that? After all, Kihyun was the reason why he was even in here in the first place. “Why?”

 

“I know you still blame yourself for what happened, even though it wasn’t your fault. I’ll need to talk to you about that later. However, I’m thanking you because I’m glad I gained you as a friend.” Wonho said, his eyes wavering back to his game by the end of his sentence.

 

“Do you have a jack?”

 

Wonho shook his head. “No, go fish.”

 

A frustrated grunt came out of Jooheon, but Wonho ignored it and continued on. “Even if we didn’t know each other well, and horrible things happened, it brought us closer. We became friends after everything that Changkyun did to us. And I’m very happy that that’s how it turned out.”

 

“But... you’ll be in the hospital for another week or so.”

 

“Your point is? I don’t care about that. I’m just excited that now I can finally have someone else to hang out with that didn’t grow up with me, y’know? It’s always been tough for me to make friends. But you weren’t hard to get along with.” Wonho explained. “I’m so glad I met you.”

 

Kihyun didn’t know what to say. His cheeks were probably bright red due to the flattery, but he couldn’t care less. This boy was so sweet.

 

That night when Kihyun arrived home to a nice bed, he decided that maybe everything that happened was a good thing. Of course it wasn’t good while it was happening but in the end it helped join two strangers together to become really good friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i might post the last chapter tonight- we’ll see. it’s short and sweet.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS ITS FINALLY OVER  
> i’m sorry it didn’t turn out as good as i wanted it to  
> i hope whoever’s read this enjoyed it.  
> It’s not great but I tried my best to pour everything I had into it
> 
> i’m in the process of writing something else atm but idk how i feel about it just yet
> 
> enjoy this last chapter :’)  
> song of the chapter: I’m OK- iKON

“Wonho!”

 

Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Hyunwoo, and Jooheon sat in a straight line parallel to the bar, cracking jokes and watching a MMA fight commence.

 

Hyungwon and Hyunwoo were discussing the fighters and their stats while the three stooges watched their fighting techniques with awe in their eyes.

 

Kihyun could mention how Jooheon attempted to try a drop kick, and he messed up pretty badly.

 

Together the crew was rowdy, but the blushed cheeks and the smiles weren’t fading. In fact, they were only growing bigger. For now they were all friends, sitting at a bar that Wonho and his family had owned for a few generations now, calling his name to order another round of drinks.

 

Around them, people were playing billiards, drinking beer, and having a good time. Everything was perfect.

 

Wonho appeared after serving a woman further away from the crew with a wet glass in his hands. As he subconsciously wiped it dry, he turned to Jooheon with a big smile, demanding he leaned over the counter so he could tell him something.

 

When Jooheon sat back comfortably in his stool, Minhyuk began to bug him.

 

“What did he say? What did he say?” Minhyuk sang, shaking Jooheon violently.

 

“I’m not supposed to say anything.” Jooheon replied.

 

“But now you’ve got us curious.” Kihyun whined.

 

“Okay. Your point is?”

 

“You should tell us.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because we’re dying here!”

 

“Dying? Who’s dying?” Hyunwoo and Hyungwon turned their attention to the commotion that was going on between the other three.

 

“Wonho told him something but he won’t tell us.” Minhyuk complained, pouting like a six year old.

 

“I’m not supposed to say anything.” Jooheon insisted, crossing his arms.

 

Kihyun narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure you want to keep that up, Joohoney?”

 

Jooheon went as white as a sheet.

 

“Alright alright. I’ll tell you.” He said, giving into the threat Kihyun made to him. Wonho had told him that Jooheon had a nickname; Joohoney. It supposedly had a backstory to its creation, but Kihyun didn’t know it. All Wonho said was that if you said it to him, he’d spill/promise anything.

 

The five of them scooted closer to the youngest, setting a circle up like a show and tell session.

 

“He said, and I quote-

 

“‘Wouldn’t we make a good k-pop group?’”

 

There was a quiet moment between all the boys before they burst out laughing.

 

“That’s ridiculous!” Hyungwon snickered.

 

“Yeah, I know that.” Wonho was shaking up a drink and passed by us, knowing for a fact that Jooheon told him what he said. “But, y’know. This world is unpredictable.”

 

With a large gummy smile, Wonho started to chuckle with his friends, holding up an empty glass, and cheering the night away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THATS IT!  
> IM SO SORRY IT WASNT A GREAT STORY BUT DJJDJMDMF I CAME THROUGH WITH IT ALL I DIDNT CUT IT SHORT LIKE I DID WITH MY LAST ONE  
> IM PROUD OF MYSELF  
> THANK YOU ALL FOR READING  
> i love you if you read everything and kept tabs on this story  
> mwah  
> goodbye for now!  
> -k


End file.
